Is My The Judas Window a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The William Morrow issue, New York, 1938 (sheets printed December 1937): original black cloth, spine and front board stamped in red, top edge stained red
• Collates vi plus 294 pages with a diagram, 20 cm (Library of Congress, LCCN 38002491); binding independently corroborated by a Sotheby's lot and by dealer copies
• Morrow used no first-edition statement in this period: by publisher rule, any Morrow volume published before 1973 whose copyright page carries no 'Second Printing', 'Second Edition' or later statement is the first printing of the first edition — identification is by the ABSENCE of a later-printing line, and there is no number line to look for (Morrow adopted number lines only in 1973)
• The jacket should be a priced jacket with the price present at the flap
• The UK Heinemann issue, London 1938, is black cloth lettered in gilt, jacket artwork by Youngman Carter, also a priced jacket; note that the English Catalogue of Books records this title's jacket price erroneously, so the ECB is not a safe check here (Goldeneye Rare Books bibliography)

How William Morrow marked a first edition

• 1922–c.1962 (Harper & Brothers, stated-first era): from 1922 Harper & Brothers began printing the words 'First Edition' on the copyright page. IMPORTANT: the letter printing code did NOT stop in 1922 — it continued to ap…

Full William Morrow 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. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
4. Verify this is the US 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?

Both the Morrow (New York) and Heinemann (London) 1938 editions are collected. The census claims US precedence and the evidence leans that way without being conclusive: the Morrow sheets were printed in December 1937, and the Morrow's Library of Congress registration number (38002491) is very low for 1938, indicating early-in-year US deposit; no source consulted supplies a month for the Heinemann. Issued under the Carter Dickson pseudonym (John Dickson Carr) in both markets, so this is not a pseudonym-precedence split. Reported but uncorroborated, and therefore not treated as a point here: the British and American texts are said to differ in many minor respects and in the name of one major character — that claim rests on a single uncited source and the name itself is nowhere documented.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Berkley reissued the novel in 1964 as The Crossbow Murder — a retitled paperback reprint and a textbook 'first thus' trap with no first-edition standing. Later reprints include International Polygonics (1987, LCCN 87080305) and Poisoned Pen Press (2026). On the Morrow first, any copyright-page line reading 'Second Printing' or later rules the copy out; no book-club printing of either 1938 issue is documented in the sources consulted.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Judas Window a first edition?

A first edition of The Judas Window by Carter Dickson (John Dickson Carr) (William Morrow) is identified by: The William Morrow issue, New York, 1938 (sheets printed December 1937): original black cloth, spine and front board stamped in red, top edge stained red.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). Both the Morrow (New York) and Heinemann (London) 1938 editions are collected.

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

Berkley reissued the novel in 1964 as The Crossbow Murder — a retitled paperback reprint and a textbook 'first thus' trap with no first-edition standing. Later reprints include International Polygonics (1987, LCCN 87080305) and Poisoned Pen Press (2026). On the Morrow first, any copyright-page line reading 'Second Printing' or later rules the copy out; no book-club printing of either 1938 issue is documented in the sources consulted.

I have a first edition of The Judas Window — 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.