Book Club Associates was a British book club founded in 1966 by W. H. Smith and Doubleday, whose unpriced members' editions are often mistaken for true first editions.
Book Club Associates is a publisher active from 1955. We track 32 editions it published between 1955 and 1997, 6 of them first editions across 32 books. How Book Club Associates marked its first editions is set out below, with a checker for the year on your title page.
About Book Club Associates
Book Club Associates (BCA) was a British mail-order book club, set up in 1966 as a joint venture between the retailer W. H. Smith and the American publisher Doubleday that sold its members club editions of books issued by mainstream publishers.
How it worked. BCA editions could name the club alongside the trade publisher, as with "Book Club Associates in association with Jonathan Cape, London" on a 1977 edition of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons. Otherwise a BCA copy can look very like the publisher's own edition, and in some cases its copyright page is identical to the trade first.
Owners. The German media group Bertelsmann later owned the business and sold it in 2008 to the German investment firm Aurelius, which restructured it. Aurelius sold BCA to the British company The Webb Group in March 2011. Both The Webb Group and BCA's parent company went into administration in March 2012, about a year after that sale.
For collectors. A BCA edition is a book club edition, not the trade first edition, so it is worth checking any unpriced jacket before buying a supposed first.
Holding a copy? The first edition checker shows Book Club Associates's practice for the year on your title page.
Identification
How to identify Book Club Associates first editions
What to look for
A BCA copy is a book club edition, not a first edition, even when its copyright page matches the publisher's first printing.
A dust jacket with no price printed on the front flap is the usual first clue to a BCA edition. A price-clipped corner is a separate matter and does not by itself mean a book club copy.
UNVERIFIED: The letters "BCA" may appear on the spine of the boards under the jacket.
UNVERIFIED: The jacket may carry the BCA logo in place of the original publisher's logo.
UNVERIFIED: The imprint may name Book Club Associates "in association with" the original publisher, though some BCA copies have a copyright page identical to the trade first.
UNVERIFIED: Club copies can lack printed map endpapers found in the trade first.
UNVERIFIED: Club copies can omit the trade edition's dedication.
How do I identify a Book Club Associates first edition?
A BCA copy is a book club edition, not a first edition, even when its copyright page matches the publisher's first printing. - A dust jacket with no price printed on the front flap is the usual first clue to a BCA edition. A price-clipped corner is a separate matter and does not by itself mean a book club copy. - UNVERIFIED: The letters "BCA" may appear on the spine of the boards under the jacket.
How many Book Club Associates books does MyVolumes track?
We track 32 editions published by Book Club Associates, 6 of them first editions, across 32 books.
