Is My A Game of Thrones a First Edition?

The points of issue

• US Bantam Spectra hardcover, August 1996
• First printing has the full number line '10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1' on the copyright page
• Dust jacket art by Tom Hallman (NOT Stephen Youll, who did later Bantam paperback covers); the jacket carries the printed price at the flap and a Robert Jordan blurb
• The first-issue jacket lacks the later-printing blurbs and award notices

How Bantam Spectra marked a first edition

• Copyright page printing statement: classic Bantam used a printed-line phrase such as 'Bantam edition / (date)' with a printing history; a true first lists only the first printing.
• Modern Bantam (post-merger) uses a descending number line; first printing retains '1' (e.g. '10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1').

Full Bantam Spectra 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. 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.
4. Verify this is the US 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?

Precedence between the US Bantam Spectra and the UK HarperCollins Voyager editions (both August 1996) is genuinely disputed. US advance/proof copies circulated at the June 1996 ABA convention, and George R.R. Martin himself regards the Bantam edition as the true first; most collectors treat the US Bantam trade hardcover -- with a far smaller first printing than later volumes in the series -- as the key collectible first. The UK Voyager hardcover (August 1996) has its own competing precedence claim and is collected as the first British edition with separate points. Both are legitimately 'a first'; identify whichever you hold and note the unsettled precedence.P-036708

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The Science Fiction Book Club edition is the common look-alike: smaller trim/boards, a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board, a gutter code, no printed jacket price (a code appears instead of a price), and NO '10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1' trade number line. A full number line ending in 1 together with a printed jacket price = trade first.P-036709

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of A Game of Thrones a first edition?

A first edition of A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (Bantam Spectra) is identified by: US Bantam Spectra hardcover, August 1996.

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). Precedence between the US Bantam Spectra and the UK HarperCollins Voyager editions (both August 1996) is genuinely disputed.

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

The Science Fiction Book Club edition is the common look-alike: smaller trim/boards, a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board, a gutter code, no printed jacket price (a code appears instead of a price), and NO '10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1' trade number line. A full number line ending in 1 together with a printed jacket price = trade first.

I have a first edition of A Game of Thrones — 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.