Is My The Poisoned Chocolates Case a First Edition?

The points of issue

• CENSUS CORRECTED ON THE IMPRINT: 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.

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.

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: CENSUS CORRECTED ON THE IMPRINT: 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.

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. Later Collins impressions are noted on the verso; later Doubleday/Crime Club printings are identified by the ABSENCE of the 'First Edition' state

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 — 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.