Is My A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes a First Edition?

The points of issue

• US Bantam Books, New York, 1988
• The earliest state is the SUPPRESSED first issue, which Hawking had withdrawn and largely destroyed because of production errors (misplaced and mislabeled photographs and diagrams)
• Identify it by textual/physical points, NOT the number line:
• NO table of contents and NO dedication
• colored — grey-blue/light-blue — endpapers
• a SILVER/GREY dust jacket

How Bantam Books marked a first edition

• Bantam used a code on the copyright page indicating printing and date in some eras; in the modern era a descending number line ending in '1' marks the first printing.
• Mass-market originals: the paperback is the first edition; reprints of hardcovers are firsts-thus only.

Full Bantam Books first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
3. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. 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.
5. 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?

Both the US Bantam Books (New York) and UK Bantam Press (London) editions appeared in 1988 and are widely described as simultaneous (1 April 1988); the copyright page notes simultaneous US/Canada publication, and no firm priority is established between the US and UK issues — collectors should specify which they mean, and some references favour the UK issue. Genuine hand-signed copies are effectively impossible: Hawking could not sign by hand and authenticated items with a thumbprint or a stamped signature, so any 'signed' copy must be scrutinised.P-037269

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Book-club editions are identified by a 'Book Club Edition' notice on the jacket flap and/or a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board, an unpriced jacket, and cheaper bulked paper — NOT by the number line, which offset book-club printings may reproduce. The suppressed silver-jacket first issue is the earlier, scarcer state; the common navy-jacket copies with a table of contents and dedication are the corrected issue.P-037270

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes a first edition?

A first edition of A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes by Stephen Hawking (Bantam Books) is identified by: US Bantam Books, New York, 1988.

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

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). Both the US Bantam Books (New York) and UK Bantam Press (London) editions appeared in 1988 and are widely described as simultaneous (1 April 1988); the copyright page notes simultaneous US/Canada publication, and no firm priority is established between the US and UK issues — collectors should specify which they mean, and some references favour the UK issue.

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

Book-club editions are identified by a 'Book Club Edition' notice on the jacket flap and/or a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board, an unpriced jacket, and cheaper bulked paper — NOT by the number line, which offset book-club printings may reproduce. The suppressed silver-jacket first issue is the earlier, scarcer state; the common navy-jacket copies with a table of contents and dedication are the corrected issue.

I have a first edition of A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

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.