Is My Private Lives: An Intimate Comedy in Three Acts a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition published by William Heinemann, London, 1930, a week after the London opening at the Phoenix Theatre on 24 September 1930 (the play had tried out at the King's Theatre, Edinburgh, on 18 August 1930), which places publication in early October 1930
• Identify by the statement "First published 1930" on the copyright page with no later printing statement or reprint line beneath it
• Binding: publisher's blue cloth, spine lettered in gilt, with a blind-ruled border to the covers; issued in a dust jacket, and the jacket is frequently absent
• Do not accept red boards on a Heinemann copy — red is the American issue
• The blue cloth plus the unqualified "First published 1930" line are the working points; the sources consulted record no first-state text error or variant binding for the London issue

How William Heinemann, London marked a first edition

• From the 1920s onward: "First published [Year]" or "First published in Great Britain [Year]" stated on the copyright page, with later impressions noted beneath
• First printing = statement present AND no list of subsequent impressions

Full William Heinemann, London 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 UK 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?

The UK Heinemann edition (London, 1930) is the true first and the census claim is confirmed — Heinemann published within a week of the London premiere, and the American edition followed. BOTH are collected and should be named. The first American edition is Doubleday, Doran & Co., Inc., Garden City, New York, 1930: 88 pp., red boards with gilt lettering to the spine, "1930" on both the title page and the copyright page, issued in a priced jacket (price present at the flap). Dealer descriptions of the American issue vary between red cloth and red paper-covered boards, so treat the covering material as unsettled and rely on the imprint and the 1930 title-page date instead.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue of Private Lives is documented in the sources consulted, but Doubleday, Doran was itself a major book-club printer in this period, so American copies should be checked for club tells — blind-stamp to the rear board, absent jacket price, cheaper bulking paper — before a trade first is claimed. The heavy "first thus" traffic is in later acting and collected editions: Samuel French acting editions, the 1965 Delta/Dell edition with an introduction by Edward Albee, the 1979 Grove Press issue (which states "First Edition Thus" while being a ninth printing), the 1971 Doubleday reissue, and the 1999 Random House collections pairing the play with Blithe Spirit and Hay Fever. None of these is a first edition.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Private Lives: An Intimate Comedy in Three Acts a first edition?

A first edition of Private Lives: An Intimate Comedy in Three Acts by Noël Coward (William Heinemann, London) is identified by: First edition published by William Heinemann, London, 1930, a week after the London opening at the Phoenix Theatre on 24 September 1930 (the play had tried out at the King's Theatre, Edinburgh, on 18 August 1930), which places publication in early October 1930.

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 UK Heinemann edition (London, 1930) is the true first and the census claim is confirmed — Heinemann published within a week of the London premiere, and the American edition followed.

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

No book-club issue of Private Lives is documented in the sources consulted, but Doubleday, Doran was itself a major book-club printer in this period, so American copies should be checked for club tells — blind-stamp to the rear board, absent jacket price, cheaper bulking paper — before a trade first is claimed. The heavy "first thus" traffic is in later acting and collected editions: Samuel French acting editions, the 1965 Delta/Dell edition with an introduction by Edward Albee, the 1979 Grove P

I have a first edition of Private Lives: An Intimate Comedy in Three Acts — 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.