# Is "A Stir of Echoes" by Richard Matheson a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Stir of Echoes by Richard Matheson (J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia and New York, 1958) is identified by: The first printing carries "First Edition" stated on the copyright page; the imprint line reads J. US first: J.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The first printing carries "First Edition" stated on the copyright page; the imprint line reads J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia and New York
- Octavo (approx
- 5.5 x 8.25 in.), 220 pages, bound in black cloth with the title lettered in yellow on the spine — one ABAA-market dealer describes the spine lettering as light yellow-green, so allow for that range in describing the same binding
- The pictorial dust jacket is grey with red and white lettering to the front panel and spine, and a printed price is present at the front flap; price-clipped jackets are common and remove that check
- Any copy with a later-printing statement added to the copyright page, or lacking the stated "First Edition", is not the first
- Publisher imprint reads J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia and New York
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Richard Matheson |
| Publisher | J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia and New York |
| Year | 1958 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The first printing carries "First Edition" stated on the copyright page; the imprint line reads J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia and… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The first printing carries "First Edition" stated on the copyright page; the imprint line reads J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia and New York. Octavo (approx. 5.5 x 8.25 in.), 220 pages, bound in black cloth with the title lettered in yellow on the spine — one ABAA-market dealer describes the spine lettering as light yellow-green, so allow for that range in describing the same binding. The pictorial dust jacket is grey with red and white lettering to the front panel and spine, and a printed price is present at the front flap; price-clipped jackets are common and remove that check. Any copy with a later-printing statement added to the copyright page, or lacking the stated "First Edition", is not the first.

## Is this the true first?
US first: J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia and New York, 1958, with "First Edition" stated on the copyright page — this is the true first and the edition collected as such. The first British edition followed from Cassell, London, also dated 1958, and is collected in its own right as the first UK edition; Lippincott has precedence as the American author's original publisher. Later hardcovers, notably the Tor edition of 1999 issued alongside the David Koepp film, are "first thus" reprints and are regularly mis-described as firsts.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No title-specific book-club printing is documented in the ABAA dealer and auction descriptions consulted; a Detective Book Club omnibus reprint of the period is referenced in secondary sources but was not confirmed against a primary description. General period tells apply for screening a suspected club printing: absence of the stated "First Edition", a blind stamp or small impressed dot on the rear board, thinner and lighter boards than the trade issue, and a jacket with no printed price at the flap.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Stir of Echoes* by Richard Matheson a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-stir-of-echoes
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.