Is My Journey into Fear a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Hodder & Stoughton (London, 1940): the first edition collates 320 pages, octavo, and is bound in the publisher's blue cloth — described by dealers as light blue — lettered in black on the spine, issued in a dust jacket with the price present at the flap
• Knopf (New York, 1940): the copyright page carries a "First American Edition" statement with no mention of a later printing; the volume collates 275 plus [1] pages and is bound in orange cloth, described by some dealers as salmon, stamped and lettered in blue, with the top edge stained blue, in a priced dust jacket
• The two settings are told apart on collation alone — 320 pages against 275 — before any binding comparison is needed

How Hodder & Stoughton marked a first edition

• First printing = era-appropriate statement present AND no later-impression/printing notation; for pre-1940s books rely on points/bibliography, not the copyright page

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, with one caveat stated plainly. Hodder & Stoughton (London) 1940 is the true first; the Knopf (New York) 1940 is the first American edition and is separately collected. No source consulted supplies the precise publication month for either edition, so exact near-simultaneity cannot be excluded on the documentary record. What establishes British priority is the Knopf copyright page itself: Knopf reserved the "First American Edition" formula for titles a foreign edition had preceded, and its use here concedes the Hodder's precedence. Dealer practice on both sides of the Atlantic is consistent with this, US dealers cataloguing the Knopf as the first US edition rather than the first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Beware US dealers listing the Knopf 1940 simply as "First Edition" — several do, and the description is at best elliptical for first American edition; check for the unqualified "First American Edition" statement on the copyright page and the absence of a later printing line. Hodder later impressions are stated on the copyright page. No book-club issue of either 1940 edition is documented in the sources consulted.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Journey into Fear a first edition?

A first edition of Journey into Fear by Eric Ambler (Hodder & Stoughton) is identified by: Hodder & Stoughton (London, 1940): the first edition collates 320 pages, octavo, and is bound in the publisher's blue cloth — described by dealers as light blue — lettered in black on the spine, issued in a dust jacket with the price present at the flap.

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, with one caveat stated plainly.

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

Beware US dealers listing the Knopf 1940 simply as "First Edition" — several do, and the description is at best elliptical for first American edition; check for the unqualified "First American Edition" statement on the copyright page and the absence of a later printing line. Hodder later impressions are stated on the copyright page. No book-club issue of either 1940 edition is documented in the sources consulted.

I have a first edition of Journey into Fear — 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.