Is My Copy of The Apple Tree: A Short Novel and Several Long Stories a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The Gollancz 1952 first is titled The Apple Tree: A Short Novel and Several Long Stories (not 'A Short Novel and Some 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 reprint or later-impression statement
• Publisher's cloth in the Gollancz manner; pictorial dust jacket with cover art by Val Biro, priced at the flap in sterling with the price present and unclipped
• Contents: Monte Verita, The Birds, The Apple Tree, The Little Photographer, Kiss Me Again Stranger, The Old Man
• Offsetting to the endpapers and toning to the jacket spine are common and are not state points

How Victor Gollancz, London marked a first edition

• Pre-1984: NO first-edition statement was made — first printings carry no 'First published' line; ONLY later printings were noted (so absence of any printing statement = likely first, presence of a reprint note = later)

Full Victor Gollancz, London first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
4. Verify this is the UK true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
6. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

The Gollancz, London, 1952 edition is the true first and contains the first appearance of 'The Birds' (source of Hitchcock's 1963 film). The US edition is not a mere retitling: 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, adding two stories not in the Gollancz volume, 'The Split Second' and 'No Motive'. Both editions are collected: the UK 1952 Gollancz is the true first of the book and of 'The Birds'; the US 1953 Doubleday is required for those two additional stories and is not a subordinate reprint. The Doubleday first-printing points are not independently confirmed, so none are asserted.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

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 Doubleday 1953 Kiss Me Again, Stranger is a different title and a different (expanded) gathering — not a book-club issue, and not to be confused with a reprint of the UK first.P-043585

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Apple Tree: A Short Novel and Several Long Stories a first edition?

A first edition of The Apple Tree: A Short Novel and Several Long Stories by Daphne du Maurier (Victor Gollancz, London) is identified by: The Gollancz 1952 first is titled The Apple Tree: A Short Novel and Several Long Stories (not 'A Short Novel and Some Stories').

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. The Gollancz, London, 1952 edition is the true first and contains the first appearance of 'The Birds' (source of Hitchcock's 1963 film).

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

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.

I have a first edition of The Apple Tree: A Short Novel and Several Long Stories — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.