Is My Hangover Square a First Edition?

The points of issue

• True first: London, Constable & Co., 1941, one volume, octavo, in original olive / olive-green cloth; the text (356 pp.) is followed by two leaves (2 pp.) of publisher's advertisements
• No number line or edition statement (period Constable) — identify by the 1941 Constable title page and the terminal ads
• The original dust jacket is scarce; a first-issue jacket is a priced jacket with the price present (unclipped) at the front flap
• Olive cloth, terminal ads and the scarce priced jacket are corroborated across two independent dealer catalogues

How Constable & Co. marked a first edition

• Late 1890s to about 1920 (the modern London Archibald Constable & Co.): firsts typically carry the date on the title page with no later-printing notice; subsequent printings remove the title-page date or add an impressio…
• About 1920 to about 1960: 'First published (year)' on the copyright page; a first impression lists no reprints, while later printings add dated reprint lines.

Full Constable & Co. first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
3. Verify this is the American true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. 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.
5. 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?

The Constable London 1941 edition is the true first. The first American edition followed from Random House, New York, in 1942, retitled 'Hangover Square, or the Man with Two Minds' — a single volume in grey cloth stamped in black and silver, about 308 pp.; it is the first American only, and its altered title and different collation make it easy to separate from the true first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No British book-club issue documented for the 1941 first. Later Constable reprints, the 1942 Random House US edition, and modern reissues (Penguin, Abacus, NYRB) are all later 'first thus.'

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Hangover Square a first edition?

A first edition of Hangover Square by Patrick Hamilton (Constable & Co.) is identified by: True first: London, Constable & Co., 1941, one volume, octavo, in original olive / olive-green cloth; the text (356 pp.) is followed by two leaves (2 pp.) of publisher's advertisements.

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

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). The Constable London 1941 edition is the true first.

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

No British book-club issue documented for the 1941 first. Later Constable reprints, the 1942 Random House US edition, and modern reissues (Penguin, Abacus, NYRB) are all later 'first thus.'

I have a first edition of Hangover Square — 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.