First impression
1973At a glance
Points of issue
- Dust jacket, front flapPrinted price on the front flap: £2.25→ first issue jacket
First edition
Hardback
Crash (1973)
Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 20 Oct 2026.
Market value
What decides the price
- It is the first edition, which is the one collectors want.
- The first printing is told from later ones by 1 point of issue listed below.
- The original dust jacket carries much of the price for a book of this age; its condition matters as much as the book's.
- Condition is graded separately for book and jacket, from Fine down to Poor.
- Recorded sales
- 4
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Price history
4 recorded sales
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Quick answer
- How do I identify a Crash first edition?
- Check these points. Dust jacket, front flap: Printed price on the front flap: £2.25. Each point is confirmed by at least two independent sources.
- Who published the Crash first edition?
- Jonathan Cape, London, in 1973, in hardback.
How to identify this edition
Published by Jonathan Cape, London, in June 1973; this is the true first edition. 224 pages, ISBN 0 224 00782 3. Bound in light blue cloth (some dealers say buckram or boards) with the title in gilt on the spine. The pictorial jacket is by Bill Botten and the front flap is priced £2.25. Much of the value rests on the jacket, so check that it is unclipped and the spine unfaded; copies without it sell for far less.
How Jonathan Cape marked its first editions
A Jonathan Cape first impression carries "First published" with the year on the back of the title page and nothing else, because Cape recorded every later impression in the same place.
- Cape told H. S. Boutell that it printed "First published" and the year on the back of the title page and added a line such as "Second impression" with its year for each unrevised reprint. The Ahearns' publisher list for ILAB gives the same rule: "First published (Year)" on first editions, with later printings noted.
- On the Bond novels, a first impression shows the "First Published" statement with no later printings listed beneath it.
Read the full guide to Jonathan Cape 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.
Printing by printing
Printings and states
Frequently asked questions
How do I identify a Crash first edition?
Check these points. Dust jacket, front flap: Printed price on the front flap: £2.25. Each point is confirmed by at least two independent sources.
Who published the Crash first edition?
Jonathan Cape, London, in 1973, in hardback.
Where these facts come from
- British National Bibliography, record GB7316846
- Crash (Ballard novel), Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
- J.G. Ballard, Crash, first edition, Lycanthia Books (lycanthiabooks.com)
- Crash. First Edition (1973), Ulysses Rare Books (rarebooks.ie)
- J.G. Ballard, Crash, First Edition 1973, John Atkinson Books (johnatkinsonbooks.co.uk)
Points of issue are listed only where at least two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 20 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.
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