Daphne du Maurier First Editions

• The Loving Spirit — 1931 · William HeinemannDaphne du Maurier's first novel: William Heinemann (London) 1931, published 23 February 1931. The first edition is bound in blue cloth/boards lettered in gilt to the spine, collating 399pp, in a scarce dust wrapper (the jacket is the key rarity on this title). Demand was immediate and a second impression was printed within weeks, so a genuine first must show no later-impression statement on the verso. UK William Heinemann (London) 1931 is the true first — correct, and not her later, better-known house Gollancz, to which she moved in the mid-1930s. The US Doubleday, Doran (New York) 1931 edition is the American first and followed the UK issue; both are collected. A second Heinemann impression appeared within weeks of publication; the US Doubleday, Doran 1931 printing is the American edition, not a book club.
• Jamaica Inn — 1936 · Victor GollanczThe Gollancz first impression is bound in pale blue cloth, lettered in darker blue on the spine with the publisher's name at the foot. The dust jacket is Gollancz's characteristic yellow typographic design printed in black and red; a priced jacket (price present) is called for, and the wrapper survives on comparatively few copies, so most first editions are encountered without it. Octavo, 351 pp. Victor Gollancz (London) 1936 is the true first and precedes the first American edition from Doubleday, Doran (New York), also 1936. Both are collected; the Gollancz edition has precedence. No book-club points were documented in the sources consulted; the strong sale of this title means later Gollancz impressions exist and should be checked for impression statements on the title-leaf verso before a copy is called a first.
• Rebecca — 1938 · Victor GollanczGollancz, London, 1938 first edition; black cloth, gilt spine lettering, in Gollancz's typographic dust jacket (no pictorial art) with the printed price on the spine. A separate Special Presentation Edition limited to 200 copies (so designated on the title page and jacket, in a cream/off-white jacket printed in magenta and black) was issued roughly one month ahead of the trade publication. UK Gollancz 1938 is the true first; the US (Doubleday Doran) edition follows. The 200-copy Special Presentation issue precedes the trade first. Book-club and later reprints exist; clipped or facsimile jackets are common, so confirm the printed price and check the verso for Gollancz reprint notices.
• Frenchman's Creek — 1941 · Victor GollanczVictor Gollancz (London) 1941 is the true first. The first edition/first impression is bound in blue cloth lettered in gilt to the spine, in the characteristic Gollancz yellow (typographic) dust wrapper printed in reddish-purple and black, collating 206pp, with the price present at the jacket spine (unclipped). Gollancz used no number line — a first bears 'First published 1941' on the verso with no…. UK Victor Gollancz (London) 1941 precedes the US Doubleday, Doran (New York) 1942 edition; both are collected, with the Gollancz issue the true first and generally the more sought-after. US Doubleday, Doran 1942 is the American first; later Gollancz impressions and subsequent reprint/book-club editions follow and either state a later impression or appear in different jackets.
• My Cousin Rachel — 1951 · Victor GollanczVictor Gollancz Ltd, London, dated 1951, under the house's yellow typographic dust jacket; a priced, unclipped jacket (price present at the flap) is called for. Dealer descriptions of the first-impression binding vary between publisher's red cloth lettered in black on the spine and tan boards, so binding color alone should not be used to accept or reject a copy — the jacket and the 1951 Gollancz imprint are the…. Victor Gollancz (London) 1951 is the true first; the Doubleday (New York) edition followed in 1952. Both are collected; the Gollancz edition has precedence. US copies lacking the stated "First Edition" on the copyright page and a priced jacket are later printings or club issues; no specific UK book-club points were documented in the sources consulted.
• The Apple Tree: A Short Novel and Several Long Stories — 1952 · Victor Gollancz, LondonTITLE CORRECTION: the census records the subtitle as 'A Short Novel and Some Stories'; the Gollancz 1952 first is titled The Apple Tree: A Short Novel and Several Long Stories. Gollancz first impressions of this period carry no printing statement — the point is negative and twofold: 1952 on the title page, and the reverse of the title page bearing only the copyright line 'Copyright 1952 Daphne du Maurier' with no…. The Gollancz, London, 1952 edition is the true first and contains the first appearance of 'The Birds' (source of Hitchcock's 1963 film). The census note that the US edition is a mere retitling is WRONG and needs correction: the American edition — Kiss Me Again, Stranger: A Collection of Eight Stories, Long and Short (New York: Doubleday, 1953, 319 pp., illustrations by Margot Tomes) — is an EXPANDED gathering,…. No book-club issue is documented for the Gollancz 1952 first. The principal trap is 'first thus' retitling: the collection was later reissued as The Birds and Other Stories (Penguin, and subsequently Virago), which is a retitle of this same gathering and is not a first of anything. Later Gollancz impressions state the reprint on the reverse of the title page, so the absence of that statement is the test. The US….
• The Apple Tree: A Short Novel and Some Stories — 1952 · Victor Gollancz, LondonGollancz placed no first-edition statement on its books before 1984 but did note later impressions on the reverse of the title page in the form "First published 1952 / Second impression...", so a first impression shows a 1952 title page with the copyright line alone — "Copyright 1952 Daphne du Maurier" — and no impression notice below it. The binding is publisher's red cloth with the spine lettered in gilt; the…. Victor Gollancz (London), 1952, is the true first, and it is the first book appearance of "The Birds" — the census claim is confirmed. The American edition is not a simple retitling and both are collected: Doubleday (Garden City), 1953, appeared as "Kiss Me Again, Stranger: A Collection of Eight Stories, Long and Short" and is expanded, adding "The Split Second" and "No Motive." The 1952 memorandum of agreement…. Gollancz second and later impressions are stated on the title-page verso and are the ordinary trap; unjacketed "second impression" copies circulate freely and are catalogued as such. On the American side the risk is Doubleday book-club printings, which lack the copyright-page edition statement. Facsimile jackets for this title are sold by reproduction specialists, so a bright Val Biro jacket on an otherwise worn….
• Not After Midnight, and Other Stories — 1971 · Victor Gollancz, LondonGollancz used no 'first edition' statement in this period; the first impression is identified by a copyright page reading 'First published 1971 by Victor Gollancz Ltd' with no impression or reprint line beneath it, later printings adding 'Second impression' and similar notes (Quill & Brush publisher guide). Collated octavo, 285 pp., in the publisher's cloth blocked in gilt on the spine; dealer catalogues describe…. The true first is the UK Victor Gollancz edition, London, 1971, titled 'Not After Midnight, and Other Stories'. The US edition (Doubleday, Garden City, 1971) was retitled 'Don't Look Now' after the collection's best-known story and, per L.W. Currey's cataloguing, appeared later the same year — it is a first American edition, not a simultaneous issue, so the census note calling the two simultaneous is not…. The US 'Don't Look Now' was distributed through the Doubleday/Book-of-the-Month club channels and club copies are common. Standard Doubleday book-club tells apply: a blind stamp (small impressed square, circle or dot) at the lower rear board near the spine, no price at the jacket flap, lighter bulk and cheaper boards than the trade issue, and often a club code printed on the rear jacket panel. Gollancz copies….

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