Is My The House Without a Key a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The first edition, first printing is identified by an ABSENCE: there is no bow-and-arrow colophon on the copyright page
• Bobbs-Merrill's practice in this period was inconsistent — through the 1920s the house marked firsts sometimes with the bow-and-arrow device, sometimes with the words 'First Edition', and sometimes with no statement at all — so this is a title-specific point rather than a house rule, and it should be checked against the rest of the collation rather than relied on alone
• Collation is [iv], 316 pages
• Binding is publisher's light brown (almost orange) cloth stamped in dark green; dealer descriptions are not unanimous on the lettering colour, with at least one ABAA house cataloguing the cloth as orange with dark navy lettering, so allow for variance in how the stamping is described
• The dust jacket carries the Art Deco design of Waikiki Beach with the house at which the murder occurs and Diamond Head behind, and is rarely present

How The Bobbs-Merrill Company marked a first edition

• Early firsts (pre-1920s): a month only on the copyright page, with no printing statement.
• Pre-1920s: a bow-and-arrow device (the Bobbs-Merrill colophon) on the copyright page was the era's first-edition signal — but applied inconsistently. Note: standard dealer references (Quill & Brush, ILAB/Biblio) place th…

Full The Bobbs-Merrill Company 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?

Sole true first: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis, 1925 — the census claim is confirmed. There is no competing UK or original-language claimant with precedence, and this is the first appearance of Charlie Chan. Later British issues and every subsequent edition are reprints of the American text.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Grosset & Dunlap reprints dated 1925 are the standard trap and circulate widely — they carry the Grosset & Dunlap imprint at the foot of the title page and/or on the spine even where the Bobbs-Merrill copyright notice is retained on the verso, so always check the title-page imprint and not just the copyright page. A later Franklin Library edition also exists and is a reprint. Later Bobbs-Merrill printings can be separated from the first by the presence of the bow-and-arrow colophon on the copyright page.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The House Without a Key a first edition?

A first edition of The House Without a Key by Earl Derr Biggers (The Bobbs-Merrill Company) is identified by: The first edition, first printing is identified by an ABSENCE: there is no bow-and-arrow colophon on the copyright page.

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. Sole true first: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis, 1925 — the census claim is confirmed.

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

Grosset & Dunlap reprints dated 1925 are the standard trap and circulate widely — they carry the Grosset & Dunlap imprint at the foot of the title page and/or on the spine even where the Bobbs-Merrill copyright notice is retained on the verso, so always check the title-page imprint and not just the copyright page. A later Franklin Library edition also exists and is a reprint. Later Bobbs-Merrill printings can be separated from the first by the presence of the bow-and-arrow colophon on the copyri

I have a first edition of The House Without a Key — 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.