2 Carter Dickson (John Dickson Carr) first editions are documented on this shelf, from The Plague Court Murders (1934) to The Judas Window (1938) across 2 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Carter Dickson (John Dickson Carr) title from later printings and book-club copies — the publisher and year to expect, the number-line or edition-statement conventions, and the tells that show up in online listings.

Identification only, per the house rule: no prices and no appraisals here. Checking a Carter Dickson (John Dickson Carr) copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.

The Plague Court Murders — 1934 · William Morrow & CompanyWilliam Morrow & Company, New York, 1934, 8vo; the first Sir Henry Merrivale novel. Binding is original black cloth with the spine and upper cover stamped in red — independently confirmed by the Sotheby's 2021 Detective Fiction / Alexis Galanos Collection catalogue ("original black cloth, spine and upper cover stamped in red") and by dealer cataloguing that specifies the title and Morrow mystery logo in red on…. The US William Morrow (New York) 1934 edition is the true first and precedes the UK Heinemann (London) 1935 edition by a year; this order is confirmed by the Sotheby's catalogue record, Wikipedia's publication data and dealer cataloguing. Both are collected — the Morrow as the true first, the Heinemann 1935 as the first British edition. Note for the Heinemann: per Quill & Brush, Heinemann's dated-title-page…. No contemporaneous book-club issue of the 1934 Morrow printing is documented in the sources consulted. Because Morrow always noted later printings before 1973, any reprint or printing notice on the copyright page rules out the first. Later cheap reprints and paperbacks (Avon and others) carry their own imprint on the spine and title page and are easily separated; one Avon reprint is reported to add the subtitle….
The Judas Window — 1938 · William MorrowThe William Morrow issue, New York, 1938 (sheets printed December 1937): original black cloth, spine and front board stamped in red, top edge stained red. Collates vi plus 294 pages with a diagram, 20 cm (Library of Congress, LCCN 38002491); binding independently corroborated by a Sotheby's lot and by dealer copies. Morrow used no first-edition statement in this period: by publisher rule, any Morrow volume…. Both the Morrow (New York) and Heinemann (London) 1938 editions are collected. The census claims US precedence and the evidence leans that way without being conclusive: the Morrow sheets were printed in December 1937, and the Morrow's Library of Congress registration number (38002491) is very low for 1938, indicating early-in-year US deposit; no source consulted supplies a month for the Heinemann. Issued under…. Berkley reissued the novel in 1964 as The Crossbow Murder — a retitled paperback reprint and a textbook 'first thus' trap with no first-edition standing. Later reprints include International Polygonics (1987, LCCN 87080305) and Poisoned Pen Press (2026). On the Morrow first, any copyright-page line reading 'Second Printing' or later rules the copy out; no book-club printing of either 1938 issue is documented in….

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