Is My Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First UK edition, Geoffrey Bles (London), 1964, published posthumously
• Bound in green cloth boards with gilt titles to the spine, blue topstain, and green endpapers; the title page is dated 1964 with no later-impression statement on the reverse
• Dust jacket designed by Michael Harvey, carrying the printed price on the front flap; a price-present jacket is the expected first-state

How Geoffrey Bles marked a first edition

• The decisive later-printing tell is an ADDED line under the original statement: 'Reprinted [year]', 'Second impression [year]', 'New impression', etc. If any such line is present it is not a first impression, even though…

Full Geoffrey Bles 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?

The Geoffrey Bles UK edition is the true first. The first US edition, Harcourt, Brace & World (New York), also appeared in 1964 but follows the Bles issue; it is bound in blue cloth boards with gilt spine lettering and carries its own priced, illustrated jacket.P-003855

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later Bles impressions and the US Harcourt issue are distinct from the true UK first; confirm the Bles imprint and a 1964 title page with no statement of later printing.P-003856

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer a first edition?

A first edition of Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer by C.S. Lewis (Geoffrey Bles) is identified by: First UK edition, Geoffrey Bles (London), 1964, published posthumously.

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. The Geoffrey Bles UK edition is the true first.

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

Later Bles impressions and the US Harcourt issue are distinct from the true UK first; confirm the Bles imprint and a 1964 title page with no statement of later printing.

I have a first edition of Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer — 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.