# Is "The Cask" by Freeman Wills Crofts a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Cask by Freeman Wills Crofts (W. Collins Sons & Co., 1920) is identified by: UK Collins first edition, 1920, in publisher's red cloth lettered in black; the author's first book and a Haycraft-Queen cornerstone. The UK Collins 1920 is the true first; the US Thomas Seltzer edition (1924) follows four years later.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- UK Collins first edition, 1920, in publisher's red cloth lettered in black; the author's first book and a Haycraft-Queen cornerstone
- It was issued with a dust wrapper
- The Collins Crime Club imprint did not exist until 1930, so no genuine 1920 first carries Crime Club branding
- Publisher imprint reads W. Collins Sons & Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Freeman Wills Crofts |
| Publisher | W. Collins Sons & Co. |
| Year | 1920 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | UK Collins first edition, 1920, in publisher's red cloth lettered in black; the author's first book and a Haycraft-Queen cornerstone |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
UK Collins first edition, 1920, in publisher's red cloth lettered in black; the author's first book and a Haycraft-Queen cornerstone. It was issued with a dust wrapper. The Collins Crime Club imprint did not exist until 1930, so no genuine 1920 first carries Crime Club branding.

## Is this the true first?
The UK Collins 1920 is the true first; the US Thomas Seltzer edition (1924) follows four years later. Any copy bearing the Collins Crime Club imprint is a 1930s-or-later reprint.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Crime Club reissues and later paperbacks are reprints. The 1920 Collins first is scarce.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Cask* by Freeman Wills Crofts a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-cask
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.