# Is "The Bishop Murder Case" by S. S. Van Dine a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Bishop Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1929) is identified by: The Scribner's seal appears at the foot of the copyright page, with 1929 on both title page and copyright page and no later-printing notice — Scribner's documented pre-1930 practice; the Scribner 'A' was not introduced until 1930, so its absence does not disqualify a first. The US edition — Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1929 — is the true first; the UK edition is Cassell and Company, London, 1929, the first English edition and separately collected.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The Scribner's seal appears at the foot of the copyright page, with 1929 on both title page and copyright page and no later-printing notice — Scribner's documented pre-1930 practice; the Scribner 'A' was not introduced until 1930, so its absence does not disqualify a first
- Binding is publisher's black cloth with Art-Deco stamping in blue to the front cover and spine, a small octavo collating viii, 349, [3] pp. of ads, with illustrations including one folding plate — the folding plate should be present and intact
- The jacket should be a priced jacket with the price present at the front flap; price-clipped jackets are common
- No first/second state text points are documented for this title, so the seal, the matching 1929 dates and the absence of a printing notice are the whole test
- Publisher imprint reads Charles Scribner's Sons
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | S. S. Van Dine |
| Publisher | Charles Scribner's Sons |
| Year | 1929 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The Scribner's seal appears at the foot of the copyright page, with 1929 on both title page and copyright page and no later-printing notice… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The Scribner's seal appears at the foot of the copyright page, with 1929 on both title page and copyright page and no later-printing notice — Scribner's documented pre-1930 practice; the Scribner 'A' was not introduced until 1930, so its absence does not disqualify a first. Binding is publisher's black cloth with Art-Deco stamping in blue to the front cover and spine, a small octavo collating viii, 349, [3] pp. of ads, with illustrations including one folding plate — the folding plate should be present and intact. The jacket should be a priced jacket with the price present at the front flap; price-clipped jackets are common. No first/second state text points are documented for this title, so the seal, the matching 1929 dates and the absence of a printing notice are the whole test.

## Is this the true first?
The US edition — Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1929 — is the true first; the UK edition is Cassell and Company, London, 1929, the first English edition and separately collected. The Spectator reviewed the Cassell edition on 18 May 1929, consistent with the US book preceding it. Note the publisher change on the UK side: Van Dine's earlier titles were issued in Britain by Ernest Benn, but this one moved to Cassell — the census claim (US Scribner's 1929 precedes UK Cassell 1929) is confirmed. This is the fourth Philo Vance novel and is often cited as the first nursery-rhyme mystery.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Grosset & Dunlap reprints followed (some dated 1929), and the 1930 MGM film with Basil Rathbone prompted further reprint issues; any Grosset & Dunlap imprint at the foot of the title page marks a reprint, and such copies lack the Scribner seal. Pocket Books issued a paperback in 1945.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Bishop Murder Case* by S. S. Van Dine a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-bishop-murder-case
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.