Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 22 Oct 2026.
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The true first is American (Lippincott, Philadelphia, 1960). Heinemann published the first British edition in London the same year, 296 pages (BNB GB6016345 and an auction record). Dealers and an auction house describe the binding as maroon, burgundy or red cloth, and two give silver lettering on the spine. The pictorial jacket was designed by Fratini, as three sources state. Check that the copyright page shows no later impression. BNB also holds a Heinemann record dated 1960 with ISBN 0 434 41301 1 and 309 pages (GB9365557); its ISBN and page count show it is a later issue, not the first.
Before the 1920s. A first edition carries the year of publication on the title page, under the imprint. Reprints either lose that date or gain a notice such as "Second Edition" or "Second Impression", so a first is a copy with a dated title page and no reprint notice.
From the 1920s. The back of the title page carries a printing history. A first edition reads "First published" followed by the year, with no further lines; each later impression or new edition adds its own dated line beneath it.
Read the full guide to 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.
Heinemann, London, etc., in 1960, in hardback.
Points of issue are listed only where at least two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 22 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.
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