# Is "The IPCRESS File" by Len Deighton a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The IPCRESS File by Len Deighton (Hodder & Stoughton, 1962) is identified by: First edition, first impression: copyright page reads 'First printed 1962' with no later-impression statement (second impressions, also 1962, add 'Second impression 1962'). True first is the UK Hodder & Stoughton edition, London, 1962 (Deighton's debut).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first impression: copyright page reads 'First printed 1962' with no later-impression statement (second impressions, also 1962, add 'Second impression 1962')
- Publisher's orange cloth lettered in gilt on the spine, 224 pages
- The Raymond Hawkey-designed photographic dust jacket is the key point: the first-issue jacket is laminated, carries the printed price at the front flap, and has NO review excerpts on the inside flap — second-impression jackets add press reviews to the front flap and were issued unlaminated
- The first impression was small, roughly 2,500 copies
- Publisher imprint reads Hodder & Stoughton
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Len Deighton |
| Publisher | Hodder & Stoughton |
| Year | 1962 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first impression: copyright page reads 'First printed 1962' with no later-impression statement (second impressions, also… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, first impression: copyright page reads 'First printed 1962' with no later-impression statement (second impressions, also 1962, add 'Second impression 1962'). Publisher's orange cloth lettered in gilt on the spine, 224 pages. The Raymond Hawkey-designed photographic dust jacket is the key point: the first-issue jacket is laminated, carries the printed price at the front flap, and has NO review excerpts on the inside flap — second-impression jackets add press reviews to the front flap and were issued unlaminated. The first impression was small, roughly 2,500 copies.

## Is this the true first?
True first is the UK Hodder & Stoughton edition, London, 1962 (Deighton's debut). The first American edition followed from Simon & Schuster, New York, 1963. Both are collected; the Hodder edition holds clear precedence.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Second-impression 1962 copies with reviews on the jacket flap are routinely misdescribed as firsts — the flap reviews and the copyright-page impression line are the tells.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The IPCRESS File* by Len Deighton a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-ipcress-file
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.