Is My His Last Bow a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The Murray issue (Green & Gibson A40a) is an octavo bound in publisher's bright red cloth, blocked and lettered in gilt on the upper board and spine, with 6 pages of publisher's advertisements at the end
• The gilt spine lettering on this issue is notoriously prone to oxidising/darkening because of wartime-economy materials, so a copy with bright, unoxidised lettering is unusual rather than suspect
• The subtitle on the Murray title page reads 'Some Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes'; the Doran issue (Green & Gibson A40c) is bound in light orange cloth and its title page carries the variant subtitle 'A Reminiscence of Sherlock Holmes', so the subtitle wording alone separates the two editions
• Later Murray printings drop the terminal advertisement leaves and are dated later on the title page

How John Murray marked a first edition

• No formal edition statement on most 19th-century Murray firsts: identify by the title-page date with no 'New Edition' / 'Second Edition' / number-of-thousand line, the correct imprint ('John Murray, Albemarle Street'), a…

Full John Murray first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. 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.
3. Verify this is the UK 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?

Both editions are collected and the census claim that the UK precedes the US is NOT established. The first English edition is John Murray, London, 22 October 1917; the first American is George H. Doran Company, New York, October 1917. Auction and ABAA dealer cataloguing consistently describe the two as same-month/effectively simultaneous, and at least one ABAA house flags the Doran as possibly preceding the Murray. Treat priority within October 1917 as unsettled and collect the Murray as the first English edition and the Doran as the first American edition rather than asserting either as the outright true first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented for the 1917 printings. Later Murray reprints retain the red cloth but are identifiable by the later title-page date and the absence of the terminal advertisements; the long-running Murray reprint series and later collected-edition volumes are the common reprint traps.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of His Last Bow a first edition?

A first edition of His Last Bow by Arthur Conan Doyle (John Murray) is identified by: The Murray issue (Green & Gibson A40a) is an octavo bound in publisher's bright red cloth, blocked and lettered in gilt on the upper board and spine, with 6 pages of publisher's advertisements at the end.

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. Both editions are collected and the census claim that the UK precedes the US is NOT established.

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

No book-club issue is documented for the 1917 printings. Later Murray reprints retain the red cloth but are identifiable by the later title-page date and the absence of the terminal advertisements; the long-running Murray reprint series and later collected-edition volumes are the common reprint traps.

I have a first edition of His Last Bow — 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.