Books

Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1915. First edition. End papers and prelims tanned, some foxing to rear end papers, some rubs to corner tips and spine ends and gutters, a very good copy. (28460). Octavo, [1-9] 10-253 [254: Ads], original blue cloth, front and spine stamped in dark blue. The first Richard Hannay novel. Filmed memorably by Alfred Hitchcock. [Reference: Barzun & Taylor, A Catalogue of Crime (1989), p. 81. Haycraft-Queen cornerstone. Hubin, p. 114. McCormick and Fletcher, Spy Fiction: A Connoisseur's Guide, pp. 40-41. Smith and White, Cloak and Dagger Fiction (3rd ed.), p. 10].

The Thirty-Nine Steps is an adventure novel by the Scottish author John Buchan. It first appeared as a serial in Blackwood's Magazine in August and September 1915 before being published in book form in October that year by William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh. It is the first of five novels featuring Richard Hannay, an all-action hero with a stiff upper lip and a knack for getting out of sticky situations.

A first edition can be identified by the publisher’s name and address, as they were given on the title page of the first edition. Subsequent impressions were often done by different publishers or included updated addresses. The first edition published by William Blackwood and Sons in 1915 would also not have any mentions of later print runs or editions.