Is My Billion-Dollar Brain a First Edition?

The points of issue

• CENSUS CLAIM CORRECTED: the US edition, not the UK, is the true first
• The Putnam first is a 320pp 8vo in red cloth with gilt lettering to the spine and plain endpapers, published 11 January 1966 in a stated run of 20,000 copies; the Raymond Hawkey jacket exists in a blue variant
• Putnam's pre-1985 practice was to make no first-printing statement while noting subsequent impressions, so a first printing is identified by the absence of any later-printing line on the copyright page; at least one specialist dealer reports a stated first impression on this title, so the copyright page should be checked directly rather than assumed
• The Cape edition (31 March 1966, 312pp, 14,000 copies) is a separate setting in blue cloth-covered boards with gilt spine lettering and a white computer punch-tape design blocked to the upper board, endpapers illustrated with computer printouts, and states "First published 1966"; its Hawkey metallic/silver foil jacket is notoriously fragile and is almost always found rubbed or scratched

How G.P. Putnam's Sons marked a first edition

• PRE-1928 (early independent house): Putnam printed NO first-edition statement. Identify a first by matching the copyright-page year to the title-page year with no reprint/later-printing notice on the copyright page. Afte…

Full G.P. Putnam's Sons first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
4. Verify this is the British true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
6. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

Census claim REFUTED — precedence runs the other way. G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 11 January 1966 PRECEDES Jonathan Cape, London, 31 March 1966 by roughly eleven weeks. This is the exception among the early Deighton titles, where the Cape edition is normally the first. Both editions are collected: the Putnam is the true first (and the first appearance anywhere), while the Cape is the first British edition and is the form most UK collectors pursue. Any listing calling the Cape 1966 the 'true first' is in error; note also that the US title is usually rendered 'Billion Dollar Brain' without the hyphen.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

A US book-club issue exists and is common: it is blind-stamped or dot-marked to the rear board, lacks the price at the jacket flap, is slightly smaller than the trade issue, and is bulked on cheaper paper. Because the Cape edition post-dates the Putnam, a Cape copy is not a book-club tell but is simply a later (British first) edition. Later Cape impressions add an impression line under the "First published 1966" statement.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Billion-Dollar Brain a first edition?

A first edition of Billion-Dollar Brain by Len Deighton (G.P. Putnam's Sons) is identified by: CENSUS CLAIM CORRECTED: the US edition, not the UK, is the true first.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. Census claim REFUTED — precedence runs the other way.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

A US book-club issue exists and is common: it is blind-stamped or dot-marked to the rear board, lacks the price at the jacket flap, is slightly smaller than the trade issue, and is bulked on cheaper paper. Because the Cape edition post-dates the Putnam, a Cape copy is not a book-club tell but is simply a later (British first) edition. Later Cape impressions add an impression line under the "First published 1966" statement.

I have a first edition of Billion-Dollar Brain — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.