Is My Copy of The Poisoned Chocolates Case a First Edition?

The points of issue

• This is not a Collins Crime Club book
• The Collins Crime Club imprint did not launch until 6 May 1930, so a Berkeley title published by Collins in 1929 can only carry the plain W. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. imprint; any copy offered as a '1929 Collins Crime Club first' is misdescribed
• UK first: Collins used no edition statement on firsts, with the title-page date matching the copyright date and later impressions noted on the verso ('First published 1929 / Second impression...'), so the absence of a later-impression line is the test
• The binding is reported as original black cloth lettered in red on the spine and front board — this rests on a single dealer description (of a copy from the library of John Cooper, an authority on detective-fiction collecting) and is not independently corroborated, so treat it as indicative rather than diagnostic
• US first: Doubleday, Doran & Company for The Crime Club, Inc., Garden City, 1929 — 'First Edition' is stated on the copyright page, and note the inverted trap that Doubleday/Crime Club REMOVED the statement on later printings, so a copy without it is a reprint, not a first; black cloth with titling and decorations stamped in red on spine and front cover, collating [x], 299, [3] pp. with a Crime Club statement on the penultimate leaf, and some copies carry a laid-in publisher's slip reading 'The Christmas Selection of the Crime Club Jury.' Both jackets should be priced jackets with the price present at the flap

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

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?

The true first is the UK edition: W. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd., London, June 1929. The US edition — Doubleday, Doran & Company / The Crime Club, Inc., Garden City, 1929 — is the first American edition and is separately collected; it was the Crime Club's Christmas 1929 jury selection, placing it late in the year and behind the June Collins publication. Note the confusing double use of 'Crime Club': in this pairing the Crime Club is the AMERICAN imprint, not the British one. The novel is an elaboration of Berkeley's long short story 'The Avenging Chance' (Pearson's Magazine, September 1929); the novel appeared before the story, and Sheringham's solution in the story is discarded in the novel.P-043548

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The principal first-thus trap is the 2016 British Library Crime Classics edition, which is not merely a reprint: it adds an introduction and new epilogue by Martin Edwards, an alternative ending by Christianna Brand (written for a 1979 US re-release and first collected there), and a further new solution devised by Edwards — a materially different text. Later Collins impressions are noted on the verso; later Doubleday/Crime Club printings are identified by the ABSENCE of the 'First Edition' statement.P-043549

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Poisoned Chocolates Case a first edition?

A first edition of The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley (W. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd.) is identified by: This is not a Collins Crime Club book.

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. The true first is the UK edition: W. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd., London, June 1929.

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

The principal first-thus trap is the 2016 British Library Crime Classics edition, which is not merely a reprint: it adds an introduction and new epilogue by Martin Edwards, an alternative ending by Christianna Brand (written for a 1979 US re-release and first collected there), and a further new solution devised by Edwards — a materially different text.

I have a first edition of The Poisoned Chocolates Case — 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.