Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 20 Oct 2026.
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Double Indemnity ran as a serial in Liberty in 1936 and first appeared as a book in the Knopf collection Three of a Kind (New York, 1943), with Career in C Major and The Embezzler and a preface by Cain. Its first British appearance is the Robert Hale edition of Three of a Kind, London, 1943, 288 pages, octavo, bound in black cloth and issued in a dust jacket. Look for the 1943 date: copies with no date on the copyright page, including some stamped 'Colonial Edition', are later issues. Book Society bookplates are recorded in both dated and undated copies.
Read the full guide to Robert Hale 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.
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Robert Hale, London, in 1943, in hardback.
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.
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 …
Read the guide →