Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 28 Oct 2026.
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We value a printing from verified sales of that exact printing, and none of the first impression has come to auction in our records so far. The chart and the value by condition appear here as soon as one does.
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True first: Hodder & Stoughton, London 2004, x + 393 pages with illustrations. Hodder issued two hardbacks at once, a larger 'collector's edition' and a smaller trade hardback, followed by a paperback in the larger format. The library record carries both hardback ISBNs, 0-340-82597-9 and 0-340-83558-3; dealer listings pair the first with the collector's edition and the second with the smaller trade format, so check both size and ISBN. Signed copies are common, and promotional postcards laid in are extras, not part of the issue. The US Viking edition (2004) is a separate first.
Early Hodder & Stoughton books have no consistent first-edition marking, so they are identified title by title from the points recorded for each book rather than by a house rule.
Allen and Patricia Ahearn's publisher list for ILAB says that before the 1940s the firm had no consistent practice for marking first editions or later printings. Ash Rare Books, writing about H. S. Boutell's 1928 guide, records that Hodder told Boutell its methods varied with every book.
Read the full guide to Hodder & Stoughton 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.
Hodder & Stoughton, London, in 2004, 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 …
Read the guide →