Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 20 Oct 2026.
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Georgette Heyer's Inspector Hemingway mystery was first published by William Heinemann in 1951, 271 pages. The title page imprint names Melbourne and London, and the verso reads 'First published 1951'. Dealers describe the binding as black cloth with gilt lettering on the spine. A first impression carries only the 'First published 1951' line on the verso; any further impression line means a reprint. Thriller Book Club copies are a later cheap reissue, not the first, and later Pan and American editions are not candidates.
A Heinemann first printing normally carries a "First published (year)" line on the back of the title page and no later impression or edition listed under it. Heinemann recorded reprints and new editions in that same place.
How to read it
Read the full guide to William Heinemann 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.
William Heinemann, London, in 1951, 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.
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