First Blood

US M. Evans (New York, 1972) is the true first, and the census claim is confirmed. Morrell's own complete bibliography lists "M. Evans and Co. (American hardback), 1972" ahead of "Barrie and Jenkins (British hardback), 1972." The two appeared in the same year and the UK Barrie & Jenkins issue is separately collected as the first British edition; its jacket, painted by Michael Codd, is unusual in carrying no title or author on the front panel, both appearing on the rear. Later hardback issues are first-thus traps, not firsts: New English Library (UK) 1989, Armchair Detective Library 1990 (trade plus numbered 1-100 and lettered A-Z limited states, with a new author's introduction), Headline 1992, and Gauntlet Press 2015.