Is My That Hideous Strength a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First UK edition, London: John Lane The Bodley Head, 1945, subtitled 'a modern fairy-tale for grown-ups'; octavo, 476 pages, produced to War Economy Standards on cheap, fragile wartime paper
• Bound in black cloth lettered in gilt on the spine
• The pictorial dust jacket is printed in green, yellow and black and carries the printed net price on the front flap; because later impressions add a 'Second Impression' or 'Third Impression' line along the lower front flap, an unclipped first-printing jacket with no such statement is the surest first-issue point
• Space Trilogy vol
• 3; not reprinted until 1946

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

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. Verify this is the UK true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. 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.
5. 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 Bodley Head true first (1945); the US Macmillan edition follows in 1946. The Tortured Planet is a later abridged text (Lewis's own abridgement, Avon paperback) and is not the first edition.P-003919

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later impressions state 'Second Impression' or 'Third Impression' on the lower front dust-jacket flap; the abridged Tortured Planet text is a separate, later issue.P-003920

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of That Hideous Strength a first edition?

A first edition of That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis (John Lane The Bodley Head) is identified by: First UK edition, London: John Lane The Bodley Head, 1945, subtitled 'a modern fairy-tale for grown-ups'; octavo, 476 pages, produced to War Economy Standards on cheap, fragile wartime paper.

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. UK Bodley Head true first (1945); the US Macmillan edition follows in 1946.

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

Later impressions state 'Second Impression' or 'Third Impression' on the lower front dust-jacket flap; the abridged Tortured Planet text is a separate, later issue.

I have a first edition of That Hideous Strength — 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.