What does T.H.O.T.S. mean on a book jacket flap?  I have a copy of
Daphne du Maurier's "The House on the Strand", 1969 1st edition, with
those letters at
the top of the flap.  Does that mean it is a book club edition?

Hello.

T.H.O.T.S. presumably means "The House on the Strand."

The
House
On 
The
Strand

----

Is it a book club edition?

Well, if there's no price on the flap, then possibly, yes.


This newsgroup message has some tips on identifying book club editions:

"3-6 How can I tell if a book is "book club"?

1) Binding.
     The binding of most book-club editions will be noticably cheaper
than that of the trade edition. Be suspicious of textured plactic 
over boards. If the binding is real cloth look at the lower right
corner (near the spine) of the rear board. Book-club editions may
have a small, round, square or maple-leaf impression in the cloth and
board. If there is such an impression (often called the book-club
slug) then the book is definitely a book-club issue.

2) Dust Jacket.
     If the dust jacket has no price on the inside of the front flap
the book is probably book-club. It is however the case that some
academic publishers as well as some contemporary multinational
publishers do not put a price on at least some dust jackets.  If the
title in question is in fact a copy of the trade edition purchased by
a book-club then the dust jacket may be specially printed for the
book-club issue and be different from that of the trade issue; or the
jacket may have just a printed note (or even an ink stamp) that it is
a book-club issue (with or without the price removed or clipped). A
dust jacket with both a price and a notice that the book has been
selected by a book-club is probably not a book-club issue but may be
a second or later state of the dust jacket.

3) Title-Page and/or Copyright Page.
     If the usual practice of a trade publisher is to put the date of
publication on the title-page it will probably be the case that book
club editions of the same title will not have the date on the
title-page.  The same is true of any other first edition/printing
points - book club issues should not be identical to first trade
editions.  If the title and/or copyright pages state that the book
has been published by a book-club - guess what?"
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&c2coff=1&selm=32BED32C.6EC7%40cyberus.ca&rnum=1

Several dozen dealers list 1969 book club editions of The House on the
Strand on Abebooks.com.  You might want to contact some of these
dealers and compare notes about identifying markings on various
printings.
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?bx=off&sts=t&ds=30&bi=0&yrl=1969&kn=club&tn=house+strand&sortby=2&yrh=1969

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I hope this helps.  If you have any questions, please let me know.  Thanks.

Over-the-top great answer, and right on! You gave me even more useful
information than I expected.

Thank you for the tip.
-juggler