James Ellroy First Editions

• Brown's Requiem — 1981 · Avon BooksPaperback original, an Avon mass-market wraps book carrying catalog number 78741 with ISBN 0380787415 on the copyright page; a complete number line descending to the numeral 1 identifies the first printing. Ellroy's debut novel, issued only in paper in the US, so there is no first-issue dust jacket, and the printed cover price should be present on the lower front wrap as issued. The true first is the US Avon mass-market paperback (1981), Ellroy's first book. The first hardcover in any market, and the first UK edition, is the Allison & Busby hardback (London, 1984), which precedes any US hardcover appearance. There is no book-club edition of the paperback original; later Avon printings (shown by a number line no longer reaching 1) and the 1984 Allison & Busby hardcover are separate later or parallel issues, not the true first.
• Clandestine — 1982 · Avon BooksAvon Books mass-market paperback original (Avon 81141), Ellroy's second book. The first printing is identified on the copyright page by the statement that the book is an original publication of Avon Books that has never before appeared in book form, together with the printing line reading First Avon Printing, December 1982, and a complete descending number line ending in 1. No US hardcover was issued, so the…. The true first is the US Avon mass-market paperback original of 1982, Ellroy's second book. The Allison & Busby UK edition of 1984 is the first and only hardcover appearance and is a later first-thus, not the true first. No book club edition exists. The UK hardcover, while the only hardcover format, is a later printing of the text and not the true first. Confirm the first printing by the December 1982 statement rather than by format.
• Because the Night — 1984 · Mysterious PressFirst hardcover in dark cloth with gilt spine lettering and dust jacket with cover art by Gamache. Copyright page states the first printing with a number line; jacket carries its original front-flap price. The US Mysterious Press edition of 1984 is the true first. Second Lloyd Hopkins novel. Book club copies lack a jacket price and generally carry a blind-stamp on the rear board. The stated first printing with priced jacket marks the true first.
• Blood on the Moon — 1984 · Mysterious PressFirst hardcover in red cloth with gilt spine lettering (approx. 263 pp.), octavo, in a photo-pictorial dust jacket. The copyright page states the first printing; the jacket carries its original printed front-flap price. The US Mysterious Press edition of 1984 is the true first. It was Ellroy's first US hardcover and the first Lloyd Hopkins novel. The Allison & Busby UK edition followed. Uncorrected page proofs precede the trade issue and are distinguished by a photocopied copyright page pasted to a preliminary leaf. Book club copies are a smaller format, lack a jacket price, and typically show a blind-stamp (dimple) on the lower rear board. The stated first printing with priced jacket distinguishes the true trade first.
• Killer on the Road (a.k.a. Silent Terror) — 1986 · Avon BooksUS Avon Books mass-market paperback original, first printing October 1986, issued under the publisher-assigned title Silent Terror in pictorial wrappers. A true first printing shows the complete number line terminating in 1 on the copyright page. The true first is the US Avon mass-market paperback original of 1986 titled Silent Terror. It was later reissued under Ellroy's preferred title Killer on the Road (paperback 1990, trade paperback 1999); those retitled printings are not the true first. A signed limited hardcover (Blood & Guts Press, 1987), limited to 350 numbered copies signed by Ellroy, is a later first-thus for the hardcover format only and was…. No book club edition. The retitled Killer on the Road printings and the later Blood & Guts hardcover are not the true first of the text.
• Suicide Hill — 1986 · Mysterious PressFirst hardcover, The Mysterious Press, New York, 1986 (ISBN 0892962356), the third and final Lloyd Hopkins novel, collating 280 pages. Bound in cloth-backed boards; the copyright page states the first printing with a complete number line, and the first-issue dust jacket carries the jacket painting by Gamache and prints its front-flap price (which should be present and unclipped on a true first). The US Mysterious Press edition is the true first and the third and final Lloyd Hopkins novel. The correct publication year is 1986, not 1985. Book-club copies lack the printed jacket price and typically show a blind-stamp on the rear board; the stated first printing with the priced, Gamache-illustrated jacket marks the true first.
• The Black Dahlia — 1987 · Mysterious PressCopyright page states 'First Printing: September 1987' with the full number line 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1. Black cloth backed lavender/purple boards, title stamped in metallic purple on spine; lavender endpapers. First-issue blood-red Dahlia jacket with the printed price on the flap. Octavo, 325 pp. ISBN 0-89296-206-2. US Mysterious Press (1987) is the true first and the first of the L.A. Quartet; scarce, as a small first printing reportedly sold slowly with copies remaindered/pulped. Book-club edition lacks the 'First Printing: September 1987' statement and the priced flap, is on lighter bulked paper, and often shows a blind-stamped dot or depression on the rear board.
• The Big Nowhere — 1988 · Mysterious PressFirst hardcover; copyright page states First Printing: September 1988 with a full number line ending in 1. Jacket illustration by Stephen Peringer, and the jacket carries its original front-flap price. The US Mysterious Press edition of 1988 is the true first and the second novel of the L.A. Quartet. Book club copies lack a jacket price and generally carry a blind-stamp on the rear board. The stated First Printing: September 1988 line with priced jacket marks the true first.
• L.A. Confidential — 1990 · Mysterious PressCopyright page states 'First Printing: June 1990' with the number line 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1. Quarter black cloth over black boards, spine title stamped in silver; first-issue jacket illustrated by Stephen Peringer and designed by Paul Gamarello, with the printed price on the front flap. 496 pp. ISBN 0-89296-293-3. US Mysterious Press (1990) is the true first; the third of the L.A. Quartet. UK edition follows. Book-club edition lacks the 'First Printing: June 1990' statement and the priced flap, is on lighter paper, and often shows a blind-stamped dot on the rear board.
• White Jazz — 1992 · KnopfFirst hardcover. 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page per Knopf's standard practice, with the Borzoi colophon and a number line ending in 1. Blue cloth boards, dust jacket with original price. US Alfred A. Knopf true first, published 1992; fourth and final novel of the L.A. Quartet. No prominent book club edition to confuse with the first. Confirm the 'First Edition' statement on the copyright page.
• Hollywood Nocturnes (a.k.a. Dick Contino's Blues) — 1994 · Otto Penzler BooksFirst hardcover, published under the Otto Penzler Books imprint in New York in 1994 (ISBN 1-883402-54-9). Stated 'First Edition' on the copyright page with the complete descending number line 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1. Octavo of 229 pages in cloth-backed boards; the first-issue dust jacket should retain the publisher's original front-flap price. The volume collects the novella 'Dick Contino's Blues' together with…. The US Otto Penzler Books first edition of 1994 is the true first. The UK Century edition appeared under the title 'Dick Contino's Blues and Other Stories,' a first-thus retitling rather than a competing true first. No major book club edition is recorded. The UK title change is a first-thus retitling, not a separate true first; a first-issue copy shows the full number line ending in 1 and the printed jacket price.
• American Tabloid — 1995 · KnopfFirst hardcover, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1995. 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page beneath the Borzoi colophon with the number line ending in 1. Bound in red paper-covered boards over black quarter cloth with gilt spine lettering. First-state dust jacket designed by Chip Kidd, with the original printed price present on the front flap; a first-printing copy should carry an unclipped, priced jacket. US Alfred A. Knopf true first, published 1995; first novel of the Underworld USA Trilogy (followed by The Cold Six Thousand and Blood's a Rover). Named a Time Best Book of 1995. No major book club edition to confuse with the first. Confirm the 'First Edition' statement and the Borzoi colophon on the copyright page, and the red-boards/black-quarter-cloth binding under the Chip Kidd jacket.
• My Dark Places — 1996 · KnopfFirst hardcover printing of this memoir, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1996, with 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page beneath the Borzoi colophon and a number line ending in 1. Bound in black quarter cloth with silver spine lettering over gray boards. Issued in a photographic dust jacket designed by Chip Kidd, incorporating newspaper crime imagery; a first-state jacket retains its printed price to the flap. US Alfred A. Knopf edition is the true first, published 1996. The UK Century edition of the same year is a separate printing with its own ISBN; the US Knopf edition is treated as the true first. No book club edition of concern. Confirm the 'First Edition' statement and the number line terminating in 1 on the copyright page.
• Crime Wave — 1999 · CenturyThe true first is the UK Century hardcover, published early 1999, stated first edition. The US Vintage Crime/Black Lizard edition is a later paperback original (first US, but not the overall true first). The UK Century hardcover (1999) is the true first edition and precedes the US Vintage Crime/Black Lizard paperback of the same year. The record's framing of the Vintage paperback as the first is imprecise: it is the first US appearance only. Contents are eleven pieces of reportage and fiction originally from GQ. No book club edition. The collection was assembled from periodical pieces; the UK hardcover is the priority edition, the US paperback a near-simultaneous first-thus.
• The Cold Six Thousand — 2001 · KnopfFirst hardcover, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2001. 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page beneath the Borzoi colophon with the number line ending in 1. Quarter-bound in black paper over burgundy boards with gilt spine lettering, the author's initials blind-stamped to the front board, and a deckle fore-edge. First-state photographic dust jacket (black-and-white early-Vegas image) with the original printed…. US Alfred A. Knopf true first, published 2001; second novel of the Underworld USA Trilogy. Issued as a hardcover original. No major book club edition of concern. Confirm the 'First Edition' statement and Borzoi colophon on the copyright page, and the black-over-burgundy binding with blind-stamped initials and deckle fore-edge.
• Destination: Morgue! — 2004 · CenturyThe true first edition is the UK Century hardcover of 2004, which is the first appearance of the collection in hardcover and the first published edition. The US Vintage edition is a trade paperback original, so it is a first US printing and first paperback appearance but not the overall true first. Collectors seeking the first edition should look to the Century hardcover with no additional printing indicated on…. UK Century hardcover is the true first; the US Vintage release is a paperback original and is 'first thus' only, not the primary first edition. No book club edition of note.
• Blood's a Rover — 2009 · KnopfUS Alfred A. Knopf (Borzoi) first printing states 'First Edition' on the copyright page together with a full number line descending to 1. Quarter black cloth over red paper boards, silver spine lettering. First-issue dust jacket carries the original front-flap price. US Knopf is the true first; third and final novel of the Underworld USA Trilogy, following American Tabloid and The Cold Six Thousand. No major book club edition of note.
• The Hilliker Curse — 2010 · KnopfMemoir subtitled 'My Pursuit of Women.' US Alfred A. Knopf (Borzoi) first trade printing states 'First Edition' on the copyright page with a number line descending to 1. A separate signed limited edition of the first (100 numbered and 26 lettered copies) also exists and is distinct from the trade first. US Knopf first trade edition. A UK William Heinemann edition also appeared in 2010; the two are effectively contemporaneous, so the Knopf printing is the US true first rather than a demonstrably global first. No book club edition of note.
• Perfidia — 2014 · KnopfUS Alfred A. Knopf (Borzoi) first printing, hardcover original, states 'First Edition' on the copyright page with a full number line descending to 1. Some copies carry a publisher's gold 'Signed First Edition' sticker, which does not alter the underlying first-printing points. US Knopf is the true first; first novel of the Second L.A. Quartet. No book club edition of note.
• This Storm — 2019 · KnopfUS Alfred A. Knopf (Borzoi) first printing, stating 'First Edition' on the copyright page with a number line descending to 1. Hardcover bound in black quarter cloth with silver spine lettering over gray boards, issued in a photographic dust jacket that should carry its printed price. Second novel of the Second L.A. Quartet. US Knopf is the true first; the UK William Heinemann edition follows. No book club edition of note.
• Widespread Panic — 2021 · KnopfUS Alfred A. Knopf (Borzoi) first printing, stating 'First Edition' on the copyright page with a number line descending to 1. Hardcover original issued in a dust jacket that should carry its printed price. Signed copies were issued with the author's signature on a publisher's tipped-in leaf bearing a paw stamp, without inscription. US Knopf is the true first edition. No book club edition of note.
• The Enchanters — 2023 · KnopfThe US Knopf hardcover (ISBN 9780593320440) states 'First Edition' on the copyright page with a complete number line descending to 1; confirm the printed jacket price is present and that no additional printings are listed on the copyright page. This is distinct from the UK Hutchinson Heinemann hardcover (ISBN 9781529151268), which carries its own jacket and imprint. The US Knopf edition is the true first American edition but not the global true first: the UK Hutchinson Heinemann hardcover was published roughly a month earlier (August 2023) than the Knopf edition (September 2023), making the UK issue the precedence-first printing. Collectors seeking the true first should note the UK edition (ISBN 9781529151268); the Knopf issue (ISBN 9780593320440) is the American first. No book club edition is a factor for a title this recent; distinguish only the true first printing from later printings via the intact descending number line and the stated 'First Edition' line on the copyright page.

More Mystery, Crime & Thriller shelves: James Lee Burke, James M. Cain, James Patterson, John D. MacDonald, John Dickson Carr, John le Carré.

← All authors · All genres · part of the First-Edition Identification resource.