Is My Epitaph for a Spy a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Hodder & Stoughton (London, 1938): the first impression collates 287 plus [1] pages and is bound in the publisher's light blue cloth lettered in black; later impressions are stated on the copyright page
• The title is scarce in the dust jacket, and jacketed copies should be examined with corresponding care
• Knopf (New York, 1952): stated on the copyright page as the first Borzoi edition, collating 259 plus [5] pages, bound in patterned paper boards with a paper spine label lettered in black and the top edge stained red; the jacket carries art by Bill English with the price present at the flap
• The Knopf sets the text with a new footnote, or afterword, that Ambler wrote in 1951 and which appears nowhere in the 1938 sheets — its presence identifies the American setting immediately

How Hodder & Stoughton marked a first edition

• Pre-1940s: no consistent practice — first/later printing identification is unreliable and requires jacket/ad/binding/bibliographic analysis

Full Hodder & Stoughton 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 American 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 confirmed. Hodder & Stoughton (London) 1938 is the true first edition of Ambler's third novel; there was no American edition until Knopf published it in New York in 1952, fourteen years later. The Knopf 1952 is the first American edition and a legitimate collecting target as the first appearance of Ambler's 1951 authorial footnote, but it is a first thus and no substitute for the 1938 first. One scholarly source reports the 1938 text was revised for the 1952 Knopf; the footnote is well documented across dealer catalogues, but the extent of any textual revision is not corroborated in the sources consulted and should not be stated as fact.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Hodder later impressions carry an impression statement on the copyright page. The recurring trap is the Knopf 1952 and the later Penguin and Vintage Crime/Black Lizard reissues being catalogued or offered as first editions of the novel; all are firsts thus at best. Note also that several dealers describe this as Ambler's debut — it is not, The Dark Frontier (1936) preceding it, and that error in a description is a fair signal to scrutinise the rest of it. No book-club issue of either the Hodder or the Knopf is documented in the sources consulted.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Epitaph for a Spy a first edition?

A first edition of Epitaph for a Spy by Eric Ambler (Hodder & Stoughton) is identified by: Hodder & Stoughton (London, 1938): the first impression collates 287 plus [1] pages and is bound in the publisher's light blue cloth lettered in black; later impressions are stated on the copyright page.

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 confirmed.

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

Hodder later impressions carry an impression statement on the copyright page. The recurring trap is the Knopf 1952 and the later Penguin and Vintage Crime/Black Lizard reissues being catalogued or offered as first editions of the novel; all are firsts thus at best. Note also that several dealers describe this as Ambler's debut — it is not, The Dark Frontier (1936) preceding it, and that error in a description is a fair signal to scrutinise the rest of it. No book-club issue of either the Hodder

I have a first edition of Epitaph for a Spy — 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.