15 Eoin Colfer first editions are documented on this shelf, from Benny and Omar (1998) to Highfire (2020) across 6 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Eoin Colfer title from later printings and book-club copies — the publisher and year to expect, the number-line or edition-statement conventions, and the tells that show up in online listings.
Identification only, per the house rule: no prices and no appraisals here. Checking a Eoin Colfer copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- Benny and Omar — 1998 · The O'Brien PressColfer's debut novel. Irish first, The O'Brien Press, Dublin, 1998, published as a paperback original (ISBN 0862785677). Identify by the O'Brien Press imprint and 1998 first-published statement on the copyright page; first-state cover with price intact. Irish O'Brien Press edition (1998) is the true first and Colfer's first published book, predating Artemis Fowl. Genuinely scarce and desirable for completists. Later reissues carry post-Artemis-Fowl author banners and are separate later issues.
- The Wish List — 2000 · The O'Brien PressIrish first, The O'Brien Press, 2000, published as a paperback original (ISBN 0862786584). Identify by the O'Brien Press imprint and 2000 first-published statement on the copyright page; first-state wrappers with price intact. Irish O'Brien Press edition (2000) is the true first, preceding the later UK Puffin and US editions. An earlier, scarcer Colfer title. Later Puffin and US editions are separate later issues.
- Artemis Fowl — 2001 · VikingUK Viking first: copyright page reads 'First published 2001' with a Penguin number line ending in 1; ISBN 0-670-89962-3; octavo bound in midnight-blue cloth with silver foil spine lettering, 280pp with graphics at the foot of each page; first-state jacket by Tony Fleetwood, price unclipped. UK Viking is the true first, published April 2001 (26 April 2001), roughly a month ahead of the US Miramax/Hyperion edition (May 2001). The Viking cloth hardcover with 'First published 2001' and a number line ending in 1 is the prized first. US edition (Talk Miramax/Hyperion 2001) is a separate later issue. Later UK printings advance the number line; film tie-in and book-club jackets exist and are not the first.
- Artemis Fowl and the Arctic Incident — 2002 · VikingUK Viking hardcover first, 2002 (ISBN 0-670-89963-1), the copyright page stating 'First published 2002' with a number line ending in 1. Bound in black cloth boards with silver symbols stamped to the spine, and issued in the first-state silver and blue pictorial dust jacket with the printed price present (not clipped). The UK Viking hardcover is the true first (2002), preceding or parallel to the US Miramax/Hyperion edition, whose own first American printing carries a number line ending in 1. The US edition is a separate issue; later UK printings advance the number line. The Puffin paperback is a later, separate format, not the first edition.
- Artemis Fowl and the Eternity Code — 2003 · VikingUK Viking hardcover first, published 27 April 2003; ISBN 0-670-91352-9; copyright page reads 'First published 2003' with the number line descending to 1; 352pp. The first-state jacket should retain the original printed price; a clipped jacket is not automatically disqualified. Third book in the series. UK Viking hardcover is the true first (2003), ahead of the US Miramax/Hyperion edition. US edition is a separate issue; later UK printings advance the number line so that it no longer ends in 1. The paperback is a later, separate format. A promotional booklet containing the first chapter was issued around publication but is a separate item, not the book itself.
- The Supernaturalist — 2004 · HyperionUS first, Disney-Hyperion, 2004, hardcover (ISBN 0786851481), published May 2004 and preceding the UK Puffin edition (June 2004). Identify by the Hyperion imprint, 2004 first-published statement, and first-printing indicators; first-state jacket with price unclipped. The US Hyperion edition (May 2004) preceded the UK Puffin/Viking edition (June 2004), making the US the true first, not a parallel issue. UK Puffin 2004 edition is a separate, slightly later issue; later printings advance the printer's key or number line.
- Artemis Fowl and the Opal Deception — 2005 · PuffinUK Puffin hardcover first, 2005; ISBN 978-0-14-138164-0; copyright page 'First published 2005' with a number line ending in 1; illustrated boards with a die-cut/window dust jacket; first-state jacket, price unclipped. UK Puffin hardcover is the true first (2005). By this point in the series Penguin issued the hardcovers under the Puffin imprint (Puffin ISBN prefix 0-14-138xxxx). US edition (Miramax/Hyperion) is a separate issue; later UK printings advance the number line.
- Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony — 2006 · PuffinUK Puffin hardcover, first published 7 September 2006, ISBN 0-14-138268-6 (9780141382685); the fifth book in the series. Copyright page carries the 'First published 2006' statement with the number line ending in 1; first-state pictorial jacket present with the printed price unclipped. UK Puffin hardcover is the true first, published 7 September 2006, five days ahead of the US Miramax/Hyperion Books for Children edition (ISBN 0-7868-4956-2) of 12 September 2006. Regarded as one of the scarcer firsts in the series. No book club edition. The US Miramax/Hyperion issue is a separate first-in-its-market printing, not the true first. Later UK printings advance the number line past 1.
- Half Moon Investigations — 2006 · PuffinUK first, Puffin, 2006, hardcover in first-state dust jacket (ISBN 0141382708), released in the UK and Ireland June 2006. Identify by the copyright-page 'First published 2006' statement and the Penguin/Puffin printer's key ending in 1; first-state jacket with price unclipped. UK Puffin edition (2006), released in the UK and Ireland simultaneously, is the accepted first. US edition is a separate issue; later printings advance the printer's key past 1.
- Airman — 2008 · PuffinUK Puffin first edition, published 3 January 2008 (ISBN 9780141383354), 412-page text volume. The copyright page carries the first-printing statement with a full descending number line whose terminal digit is 1. Publisher's black boards with gilt spine lettering and illustrated endpapers; the first-state jacket retains the printed price. UK Puffin is the true first (January 2008), preceding the US Hyperion edition (September 2008). Later printings advance the number line so that the terminal 1 is absent; book-club and later reissues lack the printed jacket price.
- Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox — 2008 · PuffinUK Puffin hardcover, first published 7 August 2008, ISBN 0-14-138333-X (9780141383330); the sixth book in the series. Copyright page carries the 'First published 2008' statement with the number line ending in 1; first-state pictorial jacket present with the printed price unclipped. UK Puffin hardcover is the true first, published 7 August 2008. The US Hyperion edition is a separate issue. No book club edition. The US issue is a separate first-in-its-market printing. Later UK printings advance the number line past 1.
- And Another Thing... (Hitchhiker's Guide 6) — 2009 · Penguin / Michael JosephUK first, October 2009; the authorized sixth Hitchhiker's Guide novel continuing Douglas Adams; copyright-page first-printing statement with number line ending in 1; separate signed/limited issues exist; first-state jacket with price intact. UK Penguin/Michael Joseph true first, published October 12, 2009, simultaneously with the US Hyperion edition. Of cross-collector interest to Douglas Adams collectors. Later printings advance the number line; limited signed editions are separate issues.
- Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex — 2010 · PuffinUK first, Puffin, 2010, hardcover in first-state dust jacket. Identify by the copyright-page 'First published 2010' statement and the Penguin/Puffin printer's key ending in 1; first-state jacket with price unclipped. UK Puffin edition (2010) is the accepted first; a US Disney-Hyperion edition appeared the same year and should be catalogued separately. US edition is a separate issue; later printings advance the printer's key past 1.
- Artemis Fowl and the Last Guardian — 2012 · PuffinUK first, Puffin, 2012, hardcover in first-state dust jacket. Identify by the copyright-page 'First published 2012' statement and the Penguin/Puffin printer's key ending in 1; first-state jacket with price unclipped. UK Puffin edition (2012) is the accepted first. Eighth and final book in the series. US edition is a separate issue; later printings advance the printer's key past 1.
- Highfire — 2020 · Jo Fletcher Books / QuercusUK Jo Fletcher Books / Quercus hardcover (ISBN 9781529402049), 2020, with the first-printing copyright page showing a full number line descending to 1 and no later-printing statement; first-state jacket present with its printed price intact. Colfer's first adult fantasy. UK (Jo Fletcher Books / Quercus, ISBN 9781529402049) and US (Harper Perennial) editions were both published January 28, 2020 as simultaneous firsts. As an adult trade title it carries conventional number-line points rather than any children's-book distinction. Later printings advance the number line so that it no longer ends in 1.
More Children's & YA shelves: Erin Entrada Kelly, Frances Hodgson Burnett, George MacDonald, Howard Pyle, Hugh Lofting, J. K. Rowling.
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