Gollancz, 1999 cover
Cover of the Gollancz, 1999 edition of this book. The Gollancz 1977 jacket has not been photographed yet.
Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 28 Oct 2026.
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The UK first is the Victor Gollancz hardback of 1977, 220 pages, following the Doubleday New York first of earlier that year. The book is bound in blue boards with the title and author in gilt on the spine. The dust jacket carries a printed price of £3.50; an unclipped jacket showing that price is the one to look for. A Gollancz copy should name Gollancz, London, on the title page and carry ISBN 0 575 02381 3; the Doubleday edition (ISBN 0 385 01613 1, priced $6.95) is the American first, not the British one.
An older Gollancz first edition is identified by what is missing: later impressions are recorded on the back of the title page, so a copy with no impression line under its first-publication date is the first.
Allen and Patricia Ahearn's publisher list for ILAB says Gollancz made no first edition statement but noted subsequent printings, in the form "First published (year)" followed by "Second impression (year)". Dealers' listings show the same pattern. Two separate sellers of the 1948 reprint of Dilwyn Rees's The Cambridge Murders quote "Second impression (first cheap edition) January 1948" on the verso, one adding that "First published October 1945" is also stated, while the 1945 printing is offered simply as the first edition.
Read the full guide to Gollancz 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.
The cover image shows this book but may not be this edition or printing.
Check these points. Dust jacket, front flap: Printed price on the front flap: £3.50. Each point is confirmed by at least two independent sources.
Gollancz, London, in 1977, 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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