Hodder & Stoughton Publisher
A Guide to Collecting Books Published By Hodder & Stoughton
Hodder and Stoughton, founded in 1868, have always been a publishing house of quality, something of a guarantee to the reader much like Jonathan Cape.
Of greater interest to us though is their importance in the world of crime and mystery fiction - right there in amongst it all and still so today with the Hodder - Headline branch producing some of the most popular, and collectable, thrillers published in recent years.
- Some of their Authors
R Austin Freeman
Leslie Charteris
Patricia Wentworth
RAJ Walling
JJ Connington
Eric Ambler
Anthony Berkeley
AEW Mason
Georgette Heyer
John Connolly
Jacques Futrelle
Lauren Henderson
Michael Gilbert et al
Identifying First Editions
This can be a bit of a minefield as they were not exactly consistent. Especially during the Golden Age period when we see first editions both dated and undated and various coloured boards.
Cloth colours varied but there was a patch during the 1930s when blue cloth with black lettering was heavily used. Whilst not a guarantee be wary and check books of this period against a specialist bibliography if they are not blue with black titles.
Dust Jackets
Unlike some publishers H&S consistently produced great dustwrappers using some of the best artists of the period. Bip Pares for example produced some stunning work for their authors such as Manning Coles. The idea that dust covers could sell books has remained true today with many 70 plus year old books selling today on the strength of the jacket alone.
When in the Golden Age period think 7/6 for 1st impression. Again not a hard and fast rule but a good rule of thumb with prices less than that, 3/6 for example, likely to be reprints or cheap editions. There are exceptions and once again check the The English Catalogue of Books or Classic Crime Fiction.
Wrappers without prices are colonial editions destined for countries such as Australia amongst others.
Michael Gilbert - Close Quarters - Artwork By Bip Pares
These tended to be a smaller format reprint. Cheaper paper and bindings were used and although they used the uniform yellow jacket most were graced with some great period artwork on the front panel, often reproduced from the original first edition.
There are some first editions in this format though most are cheap editions, that said they are collectable and sought after by collectors.
The confines of a single article prevent us giving specific bibliographical details but for precise author information or issue points identifying first editions visit our resource site Classic Crime Fiction.
If you have anything you would like to add please do leave a comment
Peter Dawson said,
January 29, 2008 @ 2:34 pm
Rod,
Very interesting article, particularly regarding the dust jackets. I have been a fan of crime novel artwork for many years particularly the Charteris/Hodder novels from the late 20’s onwards. I must say that the 1970’s Hodder/Saint dw’s took a distinct turn for the worse, rare they may be, attractive they certainly are not!
Peter
Rod said,
January 29, 2008 @ 3:57 pm
Peter
thanks for the comment and welcome to the site
Dust jackets did take a turn for the worse during the 60s and 70s, as indeed did books in general.
It seems strange as they are after all a great marketing tool.
Books today, whilst to as nostaligic and evocative as before, do now, for the main part, take cover design seriously and some handsome jackets are once again being produced.
Regards
Rod
Nicholas said,
September 23, 2009 @ 8:47 pm
I absolutely love the Hodder paperback Saint covers from the mid-1960s, invariably a lurid or pastel frame with 60’s lettering and a simple motif, my favourite being Ace of Knaves. Would love to find the original artwork source but I guess the only way to frame one would be to scan and print…d’oh.
Nicholas