Is My Copy of Sweet Danger a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The month needs care
• The true first is William Heinemann Ltd, London, 1933; the Library of Congress catalogues it as "London, W. Heinemann, Ltd. [1933]" with the note "Maps on lining-papers"
• Those endpaper maps are a real, checkable structural point and are double-sourced: the Library of Congress note is independently corroborated by a dealer description of a Heinemann first that refers to "the map on the pastedown" and a "Rear map"
• Under the Heinemann rule in force from the 1920s, a first states "First published [Year]" or "First published in Great Britain [Year]" on the copyright page with later impressions noted beneath it; there is no number line (Heinemann did not use them until the 1980s), so the absence of any "reprinted"/"second impression" line under the first-published statement is the test
• The Classic Crime Fiction checklist records the binding as yellow cloth lettered in black with a priced jacket (price present at the flap); that binding description is single-sourced here
• The first American edition is Doubleday, Doran for The Crime Club, Garden City, N.Y., 1933, retitled — the Library of Congress records it under the full title "Kingdom of death, the further adventures of Albert Campion, private investigator" — and under the Doubleday, Doran rule states "First Edition" on the copyright page

How Heinemann 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

Full Heinemann 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. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
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?

UK precedes US, and the published month is often given wrongly. Heinemann, London, March 1933 is the true first: the Margery Allingham Society gives March 1933, and this is settled independently by a contemporary review of "Sweet Danger. By Margery Allingham. (Heinemann)" in The Spectator of 31 March 1933 — a book reviewed in March cannot have been published in October. Wikipedia's "first published in October 1933" is therefore wrong and should not be relied on. The first American edition is Doubleday, Doran / The Crime Club, Garden City, N.Y., 1933, retitled Kingdom of Death, and is collected in its own right. "The Fear Sign" is a later US retitle of the same novel, a first-thus trap, not a first edition; a buyer chasing "Sweet Danger" in America must know to look under Kingdom of Death.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The Doubleday/Crime Club book-club tells apply to the US Kingdom of Death issue and are well documented: no price at the front jacket flap or "Book Club Edition" printed there, a blind stamp debossed into the rear board near the spine, and a five-digit code in a white block on the jacket rear. No UK book-club issue points specific to this title are documented in the sources consulted. The Heinemann, London, 1966 issue — which the Library of Congress records with the note "Originally published as Kingdom of death, New York, Doubleday, 1933" — is a later reprint under the restored UK title and is not a first.P-040418

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Sweet Danger a first edition?

A first edition of Sweet Danger by Margery Allingham (Heinemann) is identified by: The true first is William Heinemann Ltd, London, 1933; the Library of Congress catalogues it as "London, W. Heinemann, Ltd. [1933]" with the note "Maps on lining-papers".

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). UK precedes US, and the published month is often given wrongly.

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

The Doubleday/Crime Club book-club tells apply to the US Kingdom of Death issue and are well documented: no price at the front jacket flap or "Book Club Edition" printed there, a blind stamp debossed into the rear board near the spine, and a five-digit code in a white block on the jacket rear. No UK book-club issue points specific to this title are documented in the sources consulted.

I have a first edition of Sweet Danger — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.