Is My The Third Policeman a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Published posthumously by MacGibbon & Kee, London, in 1967; the novel was written in 1939-40 and withheld by the author, who died in 1966
• The first printing is an octavo of 200 pages in brown boards with the spine lettered in gilt — note that catalogues conflict on the material, Second Story Books describing dark brown cloth boards and Ulysses Rare Books brown paper boards, so the boards material should not be relied on alone
• The jacket has a white spine lettered in black and carries the price present at the flap on unclipped copies
• No number line is present; identification rests on the MacGibbon & Kee imprint and the 1967 copyright-page statement

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. 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 American 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?

MacGibbon & Kee (London), 1967, is the accepted true first; Walker and Co. (New York) issued the first American edition, also dated 1967, and both are collected. The two are easily confused because the Walker issue is likewise in brown paper-covered boards with gilt spine lettering — the reliable separators are the imprint and the jacket, the Walker jacket being pictorial with artwork credited to John Farman, against the London issue's plain white spine lettered in black. Month-level precedence within 1967 was not documented in the sources consulted: the UK priority rests on the consistent position of independent ABAA/ILAB dealers cataloguing the MacGibbon & Kee as the first edition and the Walker as the first American, rather than on a dated bibliographic finding.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club or reprint issue of the 1967 MacGibbon & Kee printing is documented in the sources consulted. The chief hazard for this title is not a club edition but the same-year Walker American issue being offered simply as a '1967 first edition'; confirm the imprint on the title page and spine before accepting a copy as the London first.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Third Policeman a first edition?

A first edition of The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien (MacGibbon & Kee) is identified by: Published posthumously by MacGibbon & Kee, London, in 1967; the novel was written in 1939-40 and withheld by the author, who died in 1966.

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). MacGibbon & Kee (London), 1967, is the accepted true first; Walker and Co.

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

No book-club or reprint issue of the 1967 MacGibbon & Kee printing is documented in the sources consulted. The chief hazard for this title is not a club edition but the same-year Walker American issue being offered simply as a '1967 first edition'; confirm the imprint on the title page and spine before accepting a copy as the London first.

I have a first edition of The Third Policeman — 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.