First impression
1979At a glance
Points of issue
- Dust jacket, front flapPrinted price on the front flap: £5.95→ first issue jacket
First edition
Hardback
The Devil's Alternative (1979)
Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 28 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.
Buy a copy: eBay
Sales record
No sales recorded yet
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.
Pro members with this book on their wantlist are emailed when it sells under their price.
Quick answer
- How do I identify a The Devil's Alternative first edition?
- Check these points. Dust jacket, front flap: Printed price on the front flap: £5.95. Each point is confirmed by at least two independent sources.
- Who published The Devil's Alternative first edition?
- Hutchinson, London, in 1979, in hardback.
How to identify this edition
True first edition: Hutchinson, London 1979, 479 pages, ISBN 0-09-138870-8. The US Viking edition followed in 1980. The first is bound in blue (navy) boards with a red star stamped on the front board and on the spine, silver spine titles and red endpapers. The pictorial jacket carries a £5.95 price on the flap; check that it has not been clipped. A Hutchinson of Australia issue (Richmond, Victoria, 1979) uses the same ISBN but has an unpriced jacket, so check the imprint on the title page. Later omnibus volumes with other Forsyth novels are not firsts.
How Hutchinson marked its first editions
- Hutchinson did not mark its first editions in any way, as it told H. S. Boutell; a dealer's review of Boutell's survey ranks it among the least helpful publishers for collectors.
Read the full guide to Hutchinson 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 The Devil's Alternative first edition?
Check these points. Dust jacket, front flap: Printed price on the front flap: £5.95. Each point is confirmed by at least two independent sources.
Who published The Devil's Alternative first edition?
Hutchinson, London, in 1979, in hardback.
Where these facts come from
- British National Bibliography, record GB7921940
- The Devil's Alternative, Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
- The Devil's Alternative, Jisc Library Hub Discover (BNB price £5.95) (discover.libraryhub.jisc.ac.uk)
- The Devil's Alternative, Jonkers Rare Books (jonkers.co.uk)
- The Devil's Alternative first editions (Lazarus Books
- Karol Krysik Books ABAC
- Arapiles Mountain Books ANZAAB), AbeBooks UK (abebooks.co.uk)
- The Devil's Alternative, Buckingham Books (buckinghambooks.com)
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.
Collecting guides
All guidesKnow what you are looking at
7 min read
Dust Jackets Explained: Why the Jacket Drives a Book's Value
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 readHow to Identify a First Edition
To 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: Fine to Poor Explained
Book condition grading uses a six-step trade scale: Fine, Near Fine, Very Good, Good, Fair and Poor. Collectors grade the …
Read the guide →