Is My The Beast Must Die a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Collins / Crime Club house practice is the primary test: no statement appears on the first edition, and subsequent printings are noted either by a printing statement or by a date later than the copyright date — so a copyright page bearing 1938 with no reprint notice is correct for the first
• The first edition, first impression is bound in publisher's orange cloth with black titles to the spine (Shapero), and the jacket is a priced jacket, with the price present at the spine — price-clipped copies cannot be confirmed by that point
• A Haycraft-Queen cornerstone and a Nigel Strangeways title; cited at Keating #26 and Hatchards #81
• Copies of the UK printing in the jacket are documented as extremely uncommon

How Collins, The Crime Club marked a first edition

• Collins (UK) generally did NOT use 'First Edition' statements or number lines in the classic era; firsts are identified by the absence of later-printing/reprint notices on the copyright/verso page combined with a publica…
• For collected authors (Agatha Christie etc.), identification is point-driven: jacket price, rear-panel advertisements, and the famous Crime Club 'gunman' device on the jacket. 'A Crime Club Sixpenny' lettered in the gunm…

Full Collins, The Crime Club 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?

UK precedes US, though both editions are dated 1938 and both are collected. Collins, The Crime Club (London) 1938 is the true first — Blake's UK publisher — and Harper & Brothers (New York) 1938 is the first American edition, bound in publisher's yellow cloth-covered boards; dealers catalogue the Harper as "First American Edition," which is consistent with UK precedence rather than simultaneous issue. Because the two share a year, verify the imprint on the title page rather than the date.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No title-specific book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted for either the Collins or the Harper. General tells for a US mystery of this period still apply to the Harper: a blindstamp impressed on the rear board near the spine, a "Book Club Edition" notation on the jacket flap, or a jacket lacking a price.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Beast Must Die a first edition?

A first edition of The Beast Must Die by Nicholas Blake (Cecil Day-Lewis) (Collins, The Crime Club) is identified by: Collins / Crime Club house practice is the primary test: no statement appears on the first edition, and subsequent printings are noted either by a printing statement or by a date later than the copyright date — so a copyright page bearing 1938 with no reprint notice is correct for the first.

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 precedes US, though both editions are dated 1938 and both are collected.

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

No title-specific book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted for either the Collins or the Harper. General tells for a US mystery of this period still apply to the Harper: a blindstamp impressed on the rear board near the spine, a "Book Club Edition" notation on the jacket flap, or a jacket lacking a price.

I have a first edition of The Beast Must Die — 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.