Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 28 Oct 2026.
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The first edition is the Geoffrey Bles issue, London, 1934, the first novel to feature Roderick Alleyn. Wikipedia names Bles as the publisher and illustrates the first edition jacket; the Library of Congress record (LCCN 34020396, via Open Library) gives London, G. Bles, 1934, 287 pages. Open Library also lists a 176-page Collins record dated 1934, which is not the Bles first, and later issues including the 1939 Penguin paperback and Fontana and HarperCollins reissues. Check that the title page carries the Bles imprint and 1934. No source opened describes the cloth, jacket price or any issue points, so compare any copy with a library record before calling it a first.
Only the first five Narnia books are Bles publications: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950) to The Horse and His Boy (1954). The Magician's Nephew and The Last Battle were published by The Bodley Head, so a set of Narnia firsts mixes the two publishers.
Read the full guide to G. Bles first editions, decade by decade, and check your copy's copyright page against it. Our number line decoder reads the printing from the row of numbers.
We have not yet confirmed the issue points that tell this first impression from later ones. Until we do, compare your copy's title page and copyright page with the publisher, place and year above: any later printing or edition statement means it is not this one.
Know the points? Tell us. We publish them, with credit, once a second source agrees.
G. Bles, London, in 1934, in hardback.
Points of issue are listed only where at least two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 28 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.
For most books published since the 1920s, the original dust jacket carries a large share of the value, often most …
Read the guide →7 min readTo identify a first edition, check that your copy is the first printing of the first edition. Read the copyright …
Read the guide →6 min readBook condition grading uses a six-step trade scale: Fine, Near Fine, Very Good, Good, Fair and Poor. Collectors grade the …
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