# Is "Where Eagles Dare" by Alistair MacLean a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Where Eagles Dare by Alistair MacLean (Collins, 1967) is identified by: As with all Collins books of this period, the first impression is identified negatively — the correct year on the title page and no reprint or impression statement on the verso, per two independent guides (ILAB and Evening Land Books). UK precedes US and is the true first: Collins, London, 1967.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- As with all Collins books of this period, the first impression is identified negatively — the correct year on the title page and no reprint or impression statement on the verso, per two independent guides (ILAB and Evening Land Books)
- That Collins did state later impressions is confirmed in the trade: Adrian Harrington Rare Books catalogues a copy expressly as "FIRST EDITION, second impression", so the absence of such a line is the point, and there is no number line
- The Collins issue collates 255 pp
- (some dealers give 256) and is bound in green cloth with gilt titles to the spine — one dealer instead describes silver spine lettering, an unresolved minor conflict — in a pictorial dust jacket designed by Ian Robertson; the jacket should be a priced jacket with the price present at the flap
- Collins went through several impressions, so many copies offered as firsts are not
- The Doubleday first printing is a different book: "First Edition" stated on the copyright page, 312 pp., black cloth with white spine lettering, red-orange pastedowns, priced jacket — note that these black-cloth and red-endpaper descriptions are frequently misattributed to the Collins issue
- Publisher imprint reads Collins

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Alistair MacLean |
| Publisher | Collins |
| Year | 1967 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | As with all Collins books of this period, the first impression is identified negatively — the correct year on the title page and no reprint… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
As with all Collins books of this period, the first impression is identified negatively — the correct year on the title page and no reprint or impression statement on the verso, per two independent guides (ILAB and Evening Land Books). That Collins did state later impressions is confirmed in the trade: Adrian Harrington Rare Books catalogues a copy expressly as "FIRST EDITION, second impression", so the absence of such a line is the point, and there is no number line. The Collins issue collates 255 pp. (some dealers give 256) and is bound in green cloth with gilt titles to the spine — one dealer instead describes silver spine lettering, an unresolved minor conflict — in a pictorial dust jacket designed by Ian Robertson; the jacket should be a priced jacket with the price present at the flap. Collins went through several impressions, so many copies offered as firsts are not. The Doubleday first printing is a different book: "First Edition" stated on the copyright page, 312 pp., black cloth with white spine lettering, red-orange pastedowns, priced jacket — note that these black-cloth and red-endpaper descriptions are frequently misattributed to the Collins issue.

## Is this the true first?
UK precedes US and is the true first: Collins, London, 1967. The US first is Doubleday & Company, Garden City, NY, 1967, and is collected as the American first. MacLean was a Collins author from HMS Ulysses (1955) onward and the Collins issue is the trade's accepted true first. The novel was MacLean's own novelization of his screenplay, so the 1968 film postdates the book. "First thus" traps: the Collins Fontana paperback (1968, 219 pp.) and the Fawcett Crest paperback (1968, 207 pp.) are reprints, as are the film tie-in issues.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
UK book-club reprints substitute the club's imprint (Companion Book Club, The Reprint Society/World Books) for Collins on the spine, title page and jacket and carry unpriced jackets. American Doubleday book-club printings omit the "First Edition" statement, carry a blind-stamped device on the lower rear board, are bulked on lighter paper, and have unpriced jackets.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Where Eagles Dare* by Alistair MacLean a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/where-eagles-dare
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.