The Heinemann first edition of Brighton Rock, published in London in 1938, is bound in red cloth with the spine lettered in gilt. Its pink dust jacket, priced 7s 6d, is one of the great rarities of modern first editions: copies in the jacket have sold for tens of thousands of pounds, while copies without it fetch a few hundred.
What to check:
- Binding: red cloth, spine lettered in gilt.
- Jacket: pink, priced 7s 6d on the flap.
- Bibliography: Miller 17b, the reference dealers quote for this edition.
Because the jacket carries almost all of the value, it attracts trouble. Facsimile jackets are common, and genuine jackets are often moved from one copy to another, so a first edition in a jacket needs a careful description of where the jacket came from and any restoration. Ex-library copies are also common, and at least one copy is recorded in a lending library's beige cloth, slightly shorter than the trade binding.
The American edition from Viking, subtitled An Entertainment, appeared around the same time and may have come first. Its jacket is different, so check the publisher on the title page before comparing prices.
Condition of the red cloth matters too: the spine fades and the gilt rubs, and a bright, square copy stands out even without the jacket.
Sources: Ashton Rare Books, PBFA, Christie's and a Dominic Winter sale report.