# Is "Jack's Return Home" by Ted Lewis a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Jack's Return Home by Ted Lewis (Michael Joseph, 1970) is identified by: Michael Joseph firsts of this era state "First published in Great Britain by Michael Joseph Ltd … 1970" on the copyright page and note subsequent impressions; a first shows the 1970 statement and nothing later. UK Michael Joseph, London, 9 February 1970 is the true first — the census claim is confirmed.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Michael Joseph firsts of this era state "First published in Great Britain by Michael Joseph Ltd … 1970" on the copyright page and note subsequent impressions; a first shows the 1970 statement and nothing later
- ILAB's guide gives Michael Joseph as "First published … (Month, Year)" on the copyright page of first editions with subsequent printings noted, and Biblio's publisher entry agrees that from the mid-1930s firsts either state "First Published (year)" or list no additional printings — so any added impression line rules a copy out
- Publication was 9 February 1970; the collation is 206pp
- Dealer copies describe cloth boards with the spine lettered in silver, in a pictorial jacket that should be unclipped with the price present at the flap
- No first-state text error is documented for this title, so the copyright-page statement plus the intact priced jacket carry the identification
- Publisher imprint reads Michael Joseph
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Ted Lewis |
| Publisher | Michael Joseph |
| Year | 1970 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Michael Joseph firsts of this era state "First published in Great Britain by Michael Joseph Ltd … 1970" on the copyright page and note… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Michael Joseph firsts of this era state "First published in Great Britain by Michael Joseph Ltd … 1970" on the copyright page and note subsequent impressions; a first shows the 1970 statement and nothing later. ILAB's guide gives Michael Joseph as "First published … (Month, Year)" on the copyright page of first editions with subsequent printings noted, and Biblio's publisher entry agrees that from the mid-1930s firsts either state "First Published (year)" or list no additional printings — so any added impression line rules a copy out. Publication was 9 February 1970; the collation is 206pp. Dealer copies describe cloth boards with the spine lettered in silver, in a pictorial jacket that should be unclipped with the price present at the flap. No first-state text error is documented for this title, so the copyright-page statement plus the intact priced jacket carry the identification.

## Is this the true first?
UK Michael Joseph, London, 9 February 1970 is the true first — the census claim is confirmed. A first American edition followed in the same year from Doubleday, Garden City, New York, 1970 (LCCN 71097670, 206pp; Doubleday firsts of this era state "First Edition" on the copyright page and carry no statement on later printings). The Doubleday is collected as the first US edition but is preceded by the Michael Joseph. Key "first thus" trap: the book was never first published as Get Carter. That title belongs to later reissues — Pan's 1971 film tie-in paperback was retitled Carter, and Allison & Busby's 1993 paperback used Get Carter — and copies so titled are reprints under a changed title, not firsts.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue of either the Michael Joseph or the Doubleday first is documented. Documented reprint/later-issue tells are the retitlings: Pan paperback "Carter" (1971, with Get Carter film stills to the cover) and Allison & Busby "Get Carter" (1993). If a US copy is encountered, the standard Doubleday book-club tells apply as a general check — a blind stamp on the rear board at the foot nearest the spine, an unpriced jacket, and "Book Club Edition" at the foot of the front flap — though no such issue is specifically recorded for this title.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Jack's Return Home* by Ted Lewis a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/jacks-return-home
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.