Is My Some Do Not... a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The true first is Duckworth & Co., London, published April 1924 — confirmed by Ford's editor/biographer Max Saunders and by Ford's bibliographer D.D. Harvey — preceding the American editions by months (Thomas Seltzer, New York, c
• September 1924
• Albert & Charles Boni, January 1925, printed from the same plates)
• The Duckworth first is an octavo in publisher's blue cloth lettered in gilt on the spine, dated 1924 on the title page with no later-printing statement, and was issued in a dust jacket
• The first American (Seltzer) issue is bound in half yellow-orange cloth over black paper boards with the spine stamped in black

How Duckworth & Co. marked a first edition

• Duckworth is NOT separately listed in the standard publisher-by-publisher first-edition guides (verified absent from the QBBooks A–G 'First Edition Identification by Publisher' table), so there is no documented Duckworth…
• For the interwar/mid-century period (the Anthony Powell era: Afternoon Men 1931, Venusberg 1932, From a View to a Death 1933, Agents and Patients 1936) the first edition is normally shown on the copyright/verso page by a…

Full Duckworth & Co. 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. 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.
4. 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?

First volume of the 'Parade's End' tetralogy. True first is Duckworth (London), April 1924; the New York Seltzer (1924) and Boni (1925) editions follow. The tetralogy's precedence is not uniform, and the finale 'Last Post' is sometimes cited as appearing in New York before London — but sources date the two 'Last Post' editions very close together (around January 1928), so that specific reversal is not firmly established and should be stated cautiously.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The American Albert & Charles Boni edition (Jan 1925) was printed from the Seltzer plates and is a later issue, not the first. Later in the sequence, 'Last Post' appeared as a US Literary Guild book-club edition (1928). No book-club edition is documented for the Duckworth 'Some Do Not...' first.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Some Do Not... a first edition?

A first edition of Some Do Not... by Ford Madox Ford (Duckworth & Co.) is identified by: The true first is Duckworth & Co., London, published April 1924 — confirmed by Ford's editor/biographer Max Saunders and by Ford's bibliographer D.D.

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. First volume of the 'Parade's End' tetralogy.

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

The American Albert & Charles Boni edition (Jan 1925) was printed from the Seltzer plates and is a later issue, not the first. Later in the sequence, 'Last Post' appeared as a US Literary Guild book-club edition (1928). No book-club edition is documented for the Duckworth 'Some Do Not...' first.

I have a first edition of Some Do Not... — 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.