4 Alistair MacLean first editions are documented on this shelf, from HMS Ulysses (1955) to Where Eagles Dare (1967). Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Alistair MacLean title from later printings and book-club copies — the publisher and year to expect, the number-line or edition-statement conventions, and the tells that show up in online listings.
Identification only, per the house rule: no prices and no appraisals here. Checking a Alistair MacLean copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- HMS Ulysses — 1955 · CollinsCollins printed no edition statement on firsts of this period; the first impression is identified by the absence of any impression or reprint line on the copyright page. This point carries unusual weight here because the book was an immediate bestseller and Collins reprinted at speed — a second impression followed in November 1955, within weeks of the October 1955 publication, and later impressions are noted on…. The census claim holds. The true first is Collins (London), 1955 — published October 1955, MacLean's debut novel. The American first is Doubleday (Garden City, New York), 1956, and follows the Collins; it is collected as the US first. Note a cataloguing hazard: a minority of dealer listings date the Collins edition 1956, which reflects later impressions or careless cataloguing rather than a genuine 1956 Collins…. The Companion Book Club (London) issued the novel in 1957, bound in blue cloth rather than the Collins red — this is the most common book-club confusion for the title, and such copies are frequently mis-listed as "first edition" because the club printed its own first. Fontana paperbacks from 1960 onward are reprints. Standard tells otherwise apply: no price at the jacket flap on an unclipped jacket, and cheaper bulk.
- The Guns of Navarone — 1957 · CollinsThe Collins London 1957 first impression is bound in blue cloth with gilt lettering to the spine, collates [6], 7-318, [2] pages with one black-and-white map, and shows the 1957 Collins imprint with no later-impression or reprint statement; the standard bibliography citation used by dealers is Russell 364. The correct first-issue dust jacket has the original printed price present at the front flap — a clipped…. True first is the UK Collins edition (London, 1957); the first American edition (Doubleday, Garden City, 1957) followed the same year and is collected separately as the US first. No specific book-club tell is documented in the sources consulted; any impression statement or date later than 1957 on the title verso marks a reprint, and the flap price should be present and unclipped.
- Ice Station Zebra — 1963 · CollinsCollins used no first-edition statement at this date — two independent publisher-identification guides (ILAB and Evening Land Books) agree that the Collins first impression is identified negatively: the correct year on the title page and the complete absence of any reprint or later-impression statement on the verso. Collins did note later impressions, so any "second impression" or reprint line rules the copy out;…. UK precedes US and is the true first: Collins, London, 1963. The US first is Doubleday & Company, Garden City, NY, 1963, and is collected in its own right as the American first. MacLean was British and Collins was his home publisher throughout — the pattern is established from his debut, HMS Ulysses (Collins 1955, Doubleday 1956) — and the trade uniformly treats the Collins issue as the true first. "First thus"…. UK book-club reprints of MacLean carry the club's imprint (Companion Book Club, The Reprint Society/World Books) in place of Collins on the spine, title page and jacket, and their jackets are unpriced — the substituted imprint is the reliable tell, not the binding. American Doubleday book-club printings lack the "First Edition" statement, carry a blind-stamped device (a small impressed square, circle or maple….
- Where Eagles Dare — 1967 · CollinsAs with all Collins books of this period, the first impression is identified negatively — the correct year on the title page and no reprint or impression statement on the verso, per two independent guides (ILAB and Evening Land Books). That Collins did state later impressions is confirmed in the trade: Adrian Harrington Rare Books catalogues a copy expressly as "FIRST EDITION, second impression", so the absence…. UK precedes US and is the true first: Collins, London, 1967. The US first is Doubleday & Company, Garden City, NY, 1967, and is collected as the American first. MacLean was a Collins author from HMS Ulysses (1955) onward and the Collins issue is the trade's accepted true first. The novel was MacLean's own novelization of his screenplay, so the 1968 film postdates the book. "First thus" traps: the Collins Fontana…. UK book-club reprints substitute the club's imprint (Companion Book Club, The Reprint Society/World Books) for Collins on the spine, title page and jacket and carry unpriced jackets. American Doubleday book-club printings omit the "First Edition" statement, carry a blind-stamped device on the lower rear board, are bulked on lighter paper, and have unpriced jackets.
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