An easy case of mistaken identity

Identifying the US first edition of Nineteen Eighty-Four

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Collectors of George Orwell’s iconic novel Nineteen Eighty-Four often progress from acquiring the UK first edition, published by Secker & Warburg, to also seeking out the first US edition, which was published just a few days after the UK appearance in June 1949.

The Secker & Warburg UK first is easy to identify – clearly stating on the verso of the title page that it was ‘First Published 1949’. Helpfully the second impression has the later date of 1950 on the title page, and on the verso confirms that it was ‘reprinted 1950’. It is also worth noting that the UK first can be found in green or red dust-jackets of identical design, and between which there is no precedence (though the red one is scarcer and in good unfaded condition can be substantially more expensive to acquire). So far so easy.

The US first edition, which is also desirable, is not quite so easy. It conforms to the rule that US publications tell you when they are firsts, but tend not to tell you that they are a reprint.

So the US first published by Harcourt Brace is marked clearly as ‘first American edition’ on the title page verso. Reprints don’t have that statement.  Indeed reprints simply remove that edition statement, but crucially leave the 1949 copyright statement intact. This causes endless confusion.

Harcourt Brace title page verso of true US first of Nineteen Eighty-Four

It gets more complicated, however, because the US first edition was also issued at the same time as a Book-of-the-Month Club (BOMC) selection. These first BOMC editions look very similar to the true trade first, and they also have the ‘first American edition’ statement on the verso of the title page. BOMC editions can be distinguished from the true first by two factors. Firstly there will usually be a small dot to the bottom corner of the rear board (but this can be hard to spot, particularly on worn copies). Much easier to spot is an extra line of text on the verso of the title page. Where it says ‘Printed in the United States of America’, BOMC copies add underneath ‘By the Haddon Craftsmen, Scranton, PA’. So essentially collectors are looking for copies of the book with the correct ‘first American edition’ statement, without the Haddon Craftsmen note.

Rear dust-jacket flap of the true first US Nineteen Eighty-Four

In terms of the wrapper, like the UK first it comes in two colours – in this case red and blue. For the US edition I would say that red is the more common colour, but it is also the one preferred by collectors, so expect to pay more for it. Something to look out for is that BOMC edition or later impression wrappers are often paired by dealers with true first edition books. BOMC wrappers will have a note on the top of the front flap above the $3.00 original published price saying ‘Book-of-the Month Club Selection’. True first wrappers make no mention of the BOMC on either the front or rear flap (which just has the publishers address at the foot of the rear flap). Later wrappers may contain reviews on the flaps and the spine of the wrapper will have the title of the book as white letters on a black background, whereas the first has black letters on a white background. The photos below show the key factors to look for on the US edition. A copy which conforms to these criteria in respect of title page verso and dust-jacket flaps appearance, can be confidently judged a true first. A very high percentage of US first editions offered for sale are in fact reprints, or BOMC, so beware.

Front dust-jacket flap of the true first US Nineteen Eighty-Four

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Canadian first edition of Nineteen Eighty-Four

Note that collectors might also be interested to seek out the Canadian first editions, which use US BOMC sheets overprinted with the Canadian publisher’s imprint of S J Reginald Saunders. These are collectable in their own right, and also come in blue or red dust-jackets, and are far less common than the Harcourt Brace edition – though often much cheaper.

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