# Is "SS-GB" by Len Deighton a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of SS-GB by Len Deighton (Jonathan Cape, 1978) is identified by: Cape firsts state "First published 1978" on the copyright page, with subsequent impressions noted there — a stated later impression rules out a first. The UK edition is the true first: Jonathan Cape, London, 24 August 1978.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Cape firsts state "First published 1978" on the copyright page, with subsequent impressions noted there — a stated later impression rules out a first
- Bound in black boards with silver blocking to the spine, red endpapers, and a dark pink/red stained top edge as issued; an unfaded top edge is the condition point dealers routinely cite
- Raymond Hawkey's jacket carries his Hitler-head 1941 postage-stamp design to the front, with a fabricated photograph of SS troops marching down Whitehall to the rear panel
- Priced jacket, with the price present at the front flap on the trade issue; price-clipped jackets are common
- Demy octavo, approximately 350pp
- The Cape first had a very large print run — the Deighton Dossier records 110,000 copies — so first editions are common and condition rather than scarcity is what separates copies; a bright, unrubbed silver jacket with an unfaded top edge is the exception
- Publisher imprint reads Jonathan Cape

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Len Deighton |
| Publisher | Jonathan Cape |
| Year | 1978 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Cape firsts state "First published 1978" on the copyright page, with subsequent impressions noted there — a stated later impression rules… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Cape firsts state "First published 1978" on the copyright page, with subsequent impressions noted there — a stated later impression rules out a first. Bound in black boards with silver blocking to the spine, red endpapers, and a dark pink/red stained top edge as issued; an unfaded top edge is the condition point dealers routinely cite. Raymond Hawkey's jacket carries his Hitler-head 1941 postage-stamp design to the front, with a fabricated photograph of SS troops marching down Whitehall to the rear panel. Priced jacket, with the price present at the front flap on the trade issue; price-clipped jackets are common. Demy octavo, approximately 350pp. The Cape first had a very large print run — the Deighton Dossier records 110,000 copies — so first editions are common and condition rather than scarcity is what separates copies; a bright, unrubbed silver jacket with an unfaded top edge is the exception. The uncorrected proof is bound in red Cape covers with a wrapper of the same design as the published book, and is a separate issue, not a first edition.

## Is this the true first?
The UK edition is the true first: Jonathan Cape, London, 24 August 1978. The first American edition is Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 26 February 1979 (ISBN 0-394-50409-7, 343/344pp), which is self-identifying because Knopf has consistently stated "First Edition" on the copyright page since the mid-1930s and removes the line on later printings; the Knopf first is reported to have rough-cut page edges. Both editions carry Hawkey's Hitler stamp design, which makes them easy to conflate on sight. The Cape edition precedes by roughly six months, so a Knopf copy is a first American edition only.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The booklet of mock 1941 Hitler-head postage stamps is trade-and-press promotional ephemera issued in advance of publication; many were recalled or destroyed after Royal Mail objected. It is a supplied-with extra, not a point of issue — a first-edition copy is still a first without it, and its presence does not make a later printing a first. A sepia promotional postcard reproducing the Whitehall image stands on the same footing. No specific book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted; standard club tells apply (no price printed at the jacket flap, lighter boards, cheaper bulking paper, blind-stamp to the rear board).

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *SS-GB* by Len Deighton a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/ss-gb
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.