Is My Copy of The Lodger a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition: Methuen & Co., London, September 1913, octavo, 311 pages, bound in blue cloth lettered in gilt on the spine and front board, with rough-cut (untrimmed) page edges
• The terminal point is a 31-page publisher's catalogue bound in at the rear dated Autumn 1913 — a catalogue dated later than Autumn 1913, or absent, indicates a later impression
• The author is styled 'Mrs. Belloc Lowndes' on the title page, which is normal for the first and not a point of issue in itself
• The first American edition (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1914) is a separate book to identify: octavo, 306 pages, in publisher's original red cloth titled in gilt on the upper board and spine, issued in a priced jacket with the price present at the flap; unclipped jacketed copies are very seldom seen

How Methuen & Co. marked a first edition

• Since 1905: state "First published in [Year]" or "First published in Great Britain [Year]" on the copyright page of firsts, with later printings noted
• First printing = the 'First published' statement (post-1905) OR absence of any 'thousand'/reprint notation (pre-1905)

Full Methuen & Co. 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?

True first is the UK edition: Methuen & Co., London, September 1913, following serialisation of the expanded novel in the Daily Telegraph earlier in 1913 (the germ was a short story of the same name in McClure's Magazine, January 1911 — magazine appearance, not a book). The first American edition is Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1914 (recorded as March 1914), NOT 1913. Both editions are collected — the Methuen as the true first, the Scribner's as the first American edition — but a Scribner's copy dated 1913 does not exist and any such description should be treated as an error or a made-up date.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented for the 1913 Methuen or 1914 Scribner's printings. Reprint tells: later Methuen impressions carry an impression statement on the title-page verso and a later-dated or missing rear catalogue; the novel was reprinted heavily after Hitchcock's 1926 film, and those film-era and later trade reprints, along with continental 'copyright edition' issues offered by some dealers, are the usual substitutes for the Methuen first.P-040538

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Lodger a first edition?

A first edition of The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes (Methuen & Co.) is identified by: First edition: Methuen & Co., London, September 1913, octavo, 311 pages, bound in blue cloth lettered in gilt on the spine and front board, with rough-cut (untrimmed) page edges.

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. True first is the UK edition: Methuen & Co., London, September 1913, following serialisation of the expanded novel in the Daily Telegraph earlier in 1913 (the germ was a short story of the same name in McClure's Magazine, January 1911 — magazine appearance, not a book).

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

No book-club issue is documented for the 1913 Methuen or 1914 Scribner's printings. Reprint tells: later Methuen impressions carry an impression statement on the title-page verso and a later-dated or missing rear catalogue; the novel was reprinted heavily after Hitchcock's 1926 film, and those film-era and later trade reprints, along with continental 'copyright edition' issues offered by some dealers, are the usual substitutes for the Methuen first.

I have a first edition of The Lodger — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.