Is My Ripley Under Ground a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The first printing carries "First Edition" stated on the copyright page
• Physically: octavo, 275 pp., publisher's beige cloth (one seller describes the same binding as grey, so treat the shade as description variance rather than a variant state), with the titling and design stamped in red on the spine
• The jacket is pictorial and is a priced jacket, with the price present at the front flap and unclipped on a correct copy
• Critically, the "First Edition" line alone does not settle this book: Doubleday book-club editions of this period frequently reproduce the trade copyright page, statement and all
• The decisive checks are the blind-stamped device (a dot, circle, square, or triangle) at the lower rear board near the spine, which a trade first lacks and a club copy carries; the presence of the price at the jacket flap; and the heavier bulk and true cloth of the trade issue
• Doubleday gutter codes appear on trade and club printings alike and do not by themselves decide the question

How Doubleday & Company marked a first edition

• Mid-1958–early 1959: numerical gutter code (1–52) on the last page of text indicating the WEEK of printing. Early 1959–1987: added a LETTER code before the week code indicating the YEAR.

Full Doubleday & Company 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 census claim is correct: Doubleday, Garden City, New York, 1970 precedes the UK Heinemann edition of 1971, and it is the second Ripliad title, needed alongside the 1955 first of The Talented Mr. Ripley (Coward-McCann, not Doubleday — do not conflate the two publishers across the series). Both the Doubleday 1970 and the Heinemann 1971 are collected; the Heinemann first is issued in an illustrated jacket after Mon Mohan. A Heinemann uncorrected proof in plain text-only thin card wrappers predates the British edition and is recorded by a Highsmith collector as showing a missing quote mark on page 20 that was corrected in the published UK text — but it predates only the UK edition, not the American first, which remains the true first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Documented for this title: a Doubleday book-club copy bound in light tan boards with plain white endpapers and brown lettering to the spine — set against the trade first's beige cloth with red spine stamping — and issued without a jacket or with an unpriced one. General Doubleday club tells apply: the blind-stamped device at the lower rear board, no price at the jacket flap, lighter and thinner paper and boards, and a smaller trim. Because the club printing can carry the same "First Edition" statement, a copy offered as a first on the strength of that line alone should be refused until the rear board and jacket flap are checked.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Ripley Under Ground a first edition?

A first edition of Ripley Under Ground by Patricia Highsmith (Doubleday & Company) is identified by: The first printing carries "First Edition" stated on the copyright page.

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 census claim is correct: Doubleday, Garden City, New York, 1970 precedes the UK Heinemann edition of 1971, and it is the second Ripliad title, needed alongside the 1955 first of The Talented Mr.

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

Documented for this title: a Doubleday book-club copy bound in light tan boards with plain white endpapers and brown lettering to the spine — set against the trade first's beige cloth with red spine stamping — and issued without a jacket or with an unpriced one. General Doubleday club tells apply: the blind-stamped device at the lower rear board, no price at the jacket flap, lighter and thinner paper and boards, and a smaller trim. Because the club printing can carry the same "First Edition" sta

I have a first edition of Ripley Under Ground — 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.