Neil Gaiman First Editions

• Violent Cases (with Dave McKean) — 1987 · Escape Books / TitanGaiman's first graphic novel and Dave McKean's first published comics work. UK first edition published by Escape Books with Titan, 1987; 48-page black-and-white printing in wraps (softcover). Later editions reproduce McKean's art in color. The UK Escape 1987 black-and-white softcover is the true first and among Gaiman's earliest book-form works. Scarce. The later Tundra (1991) and Kitchen Sink color editions are not the first; a color interior indicates a later edition.
• Don't Panic: The Official Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Companion — 1988 · Titan BooksUK Titan Books first edition; softcover (paperback original), ISBN 1-85286-013-8 (9781852860134); first printing. The original text comprises chapters 1 through 22 plus five appendices. A US Pocket Books paperback (ISBN 0-671-66426-3) followed in 1988 with 181 pages. The true first is the UK Titan Books paperback original, published October 1987 (not 1988). An often overlooked early Gaiman nonfiction title, though not his first book: his Duran Duran biography (Proteus, 1984) and the co-written Ghastly Beyond Belief (1985) precede it. No book-club edition. The revised and retitled later editions (1993, 2002, 2009) are distinct expanded texts, not firsts; the 1988 US Pocket Books paperback is a separate later issue.
• The Sandman #1 — 1989 · DC ComicsSingle issue The Sandman #1, cover-dated January 1989 (on sale late November 1988), story 'Sleep of the Just' by Neil Gaiman, art by Sam Kieth and Mike Dringenberg, cover by Dave McKean; first appearance of Dream/Morpheus. The first printing carries no later-printing notation on the cover or in the indicia. True first appearance of Dream/Morpheus of the Endless. The serialized #1 precedes the 1991 collected trade. First-print, high-grade copies are the key. No book-club edition. The second printing of #1 is banner-marked; only the unmarked 1989 first carries first-print standing.
• Good Omens (with Terry Pratchett) — 1990 · Victor GollanczFirst UK edition, Gollancz, May 1990; red cloth with black lettering to the spine; Chris Moore pictorial dust jacket priced 12.the printed price on the front flap; no statement of later impression on the copyright page. The UK Gollancz edition is the true first; the US Workman edition followed in 1990. Copies signed by both authors are notably scarce. US Workman and BCA book-club printings are not the true first; club copies lack the flap price.
• The Sandman: The Doll's House — 1990 · DC ComicsFirst Sandman trade paperback collection, published 1990, collecting issues #8-16. The 1990 first printing includes issue #8 (Gaiman's prologue), which was dropped from later editions, and carries no later-printing line. This was the first Sandman collection published, ahead of Preludes & Nocturnes, whose printing it helped prompt. It is the true first of the collected line. Later printings are numbered and, importantly, omit issue #8; a recolored anniversary edition is first-thus, not the true first.
• The Sandman: Dream Country — 1991 · DC ComicsTrade paperback collecting Sandman #17-20 ('Calliope', 'A Dream of a Thousand Cats', 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', and 'Facade'), first issued in paperback in 1991. First printing carries no later-printing line. True first of this collected volume is the 1991 paperback (a hardback followed in 1995). Single issue #19, 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' is the only comic to win a World Fantasy Award (1991). Later printings are numbered; the 1995 hardback is first-thus for that format, not the true first.
• The Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes — 1991 · DC ComicsThe Sandman comic ran 1989-1996; the single issues (#1-75) are the true firsts of the serialized content, with issue #1 (cover-dated January 1989) the key collectible. The first collected trade was actually The Doll's House (DC, 1990, collecting issues 8-16), which preceded Preludes & Nocturnes (DC, 1991, collecting issues 1-8). First printings of the trades are identified on the indicia page. US true first. The decisive point: from around 1995 the F. Paul Wilson introduction was replaced by a new Karen Berger introduction, so any copy with the Berger introduction is a later printing, not the 1991 first. The serial Sandman #1 (1989) is the true first appearance of Morpheus and is a separate, higher key. No book-club edition; later printings are distinguished by the Berger (rather than Wilson) introduction, the Vertigo logo, revised ISBNs, and barcodes. Verify the F. Paul Wilson introduction for the true first.
• The Sandman: Season of Mists — 1992 · DC ComicsTrade paperback collecting The Sandman #21-28, first printing November 1992, identified by the original ISBN (1-56389-035-1 / 1852864478), the printed cover price, and the absence of any later-printing indicia on the copyright page. A defining first-issue tell: this is the last Sandman collection issued under the regular DC Comics logo rather than the Vertigo imprint, so a genuine first printing carries the…. Collected first-thus. The individual monthly comics The Sandman #21-28 (1990-1991) are the true first appearances of this material. Later printings are noted as such in the indicia; because DC/Vertigo trade paperbacks of this era do not use a traditional publisher number line, identify a first printing by the original ISBN, the printed price, the regular DC (non-Vertigo) logo, and the lack of a reprint statement. Second-printing paperbacks and all later editions were issued after the Vertigo imprint launched in early 1993 and therefore bear….
• The Sandman: A Game of You — 1993 · DC Comics / VertigoFifth Sandman collection, gathering The Sandman #32-37 with a Dave McKean cover; first printing 1993. This was the first Sandman collection to carry the Vertigo logo on all editions. Both a trade paperback and a hardcover were issued in 1993, the hardcover in a McKean-illustrated dust jacket; the collection was edited by Bob Kahan. Collected first-thus. The monthly comics The Sandman #32-37 (1991-1992) are the true first appearances. A 1993 hardcover appeared alongside the 1993 paperback. Later printings are marked as such in the indicia; there is no traditional number line, so a first printing is identified by the original ISBN and price and the absence of a later-printing statement in the indicia.
• The Sandman: Fables & Reflections — 1993 · DC Comics / VertigoCollects The Sandman #29-31, 38-40, 50, The Sandman Special #1, and material from Vertigo Preview #1, with an introduction by Gene Wolfe. First printing 1993, ISBN 1-56389-106-9. Both a trade paperback and a hardcover were issued in 1993; the hardcover first printing was released October 14, 1993 and was printed in Canada. Collected first-thus. The component monthly comics (1991-1993) are the true first appearances of the material. Both a paperback and a hardcover appeared in 1993. Later printings are noted as such in the indicia; no traditional descending number line is used, so identify a first printing by the original ISBN 1-56389-106-9, the original cover price, and the absence of any reprint statement in the indicia.
• The Sandman: Brief Lives — 1994 · DC Comics / VertigoCollects The Sandman #41-49, first printing 1994, issued in both trade paperback and hardcover with dust jacket. Interior art by Jill Thompson and Vince Locke, with an afterword by Peter Straub; cover and jacket design by Dave McKean. First printing carries ISBN 1-56389-138-7. Later printings are noted in the indicia, so identify a first printing by the original ISBN, the printed cover price, and the absence of…. Collected first-thus. The monthly comics The Sandman #41-49 (1992-1993) are the true first appearances. Both the paperback and the hardcover appeared in 1994. No traditional number line is used; later printings state the printing in the indicia. A first printing shows the original ISBN, no reprint line, and the first-issue price on the rear panel.
• The Sandman: World's End — 1995 · DC Comics / VertigoCorrect title is 'Worlds' End' (apostrophe after the s). Trade paperback collecting The Sandman #51-56; first printing 1995 (the softcover was published in 1995, not 1994). A hardcover was also issued in this period. Collected first-thus. The monthly comics The Sandman #51-56 (1993) are the true first appearances. Later printings are marked as such in the indicia; no traditional number line is used, so identify a first printing by the original ISBN (1-56389-171-4) and price and the absence of a reprint statement.
• Neverwhere — 1996 · BBC BooksUK BBC Books first hardcover with a Dave McKean jacket adapting his title-sequence graphics for the series (the bird's-head rings, the flaming fist and London Underground-styled imagery); the volume includes a short section by Gaiman on the making of the series. The copyright page reads 'First published 1996 by BBC Books' with no later-printing statement. The priced dust jacket should retain its printed price on…. The UK BBC Books edition (1996) is the true first by publication. The US Avon edition (1997) is a later, textually different version: Gaiman revised and expanded the text for American readers, adding and restoring material, and Avon copies are sometimes described as the author's preferred text — so the BBC and Avon texts differ, and the BBC hardcover remains the true first regardless. There is no book-club edition of the BBC first to trap the buyer; the common reprints are the later BBC trade-paperback printings (with a different printing statement) and the 1997 Avon US hardcover (green boards, black spine, silver type). Distinguish the BBC hardcover from the BBC paperback and from the Avon US hardcover.
• The Sandman: The Kindly Ones — 1996 · DC Comics / VertigoCollected edition issued by DC Comics / Vertigo in 1996, gathering The Sandman #57-69 and material from Vertigo Jam #1, with art by Marc Hempel, Richard Case, D'Israeli, Teddy Kristiansen, Glyn Dillon, Charles Vess, Dean Ormston and Kevin Nowlan. Issued simultaneously in trade paperback (ISBN 1-56389-205-2) and hardcover (ISBN 1-56389-204-4); the hardcover was issued in a dust jacket with the title also embossed…. Collected first-thus. The monthly comics The Sandman #57-69 (1994-1996) and Vertigo Jam #1 are the true first appearances of this material. Both the paperback and hardcover collections appeared in 1996. Later printings are identified as such in the indicia; no traditional number line is used, so identify a first printing by the original ISBN and cover price and the absence of any reprint or later-printing statement.
• Stardust (illustrated, with Charles Vess) — 1997 · DC Comics / VertigoFirst appeared as the four-issue prestige-format illustrated series (DC/Vertigo, 1997-1998), then as the illustrated hardcover Stardust: Being a Romance Within the Realms of Faerie (DC/Vertigo, 1998). The illustrated edition precedes the text-only novel (Avon in the US and Headline in the UK, 1999). The illustrated Vertigo edition (1997-1998) is the true first; the text-only 1999 novel editions follow. Note this unusual illustrated-first precedence. Text-only trade editions and later illustrated reprints postdate the original prestige series and 1998 hardcover.
• The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish (with Dave McKean) — 1997 · White Wolf / BorealisChildren's picture book, illus. Dave McKean. True first is the 1997 White Wolf Publishing / Borealis imprint issue, glossy illustrated boards as issued, 1997 on the copyright page with no later-printing statement; a small press run. US White Wolf/Borealis true first (1997); later HarperCollins editions (2004 onward) are reprints of the text. Later HarperCollins reprints differ in imprint and ISBN.
• The Sandman: The Wake — 1997 · DC Comics / VertigoCollects Sandman #70-75 (with three lost pages restored) plus The Tempest, with an introduction by Mikal Gilmore and a Dave McKean cover design; art by Michael Zulli, Jon J. Muth and Charles Vess. The 1997 first-printing hardcover was issued in green boards with a photographic paste-down image on the front and no dust jacket as issued; the copyright page carries no later-printing statement. A first-printing…. Collected first-thus concluding the main series. The 1997 hardcover and softcover were both first printings; the record's TPB-only framing is too narrow. The hardcover was issued without a jacket, so jacket-price points do not apply. Later printings are indicated on the copyright page.
• Stardust — 1997-1998 · DC Comics / VertigoThe true first appearance is the four-part illustrated 'Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess' Stardust: Being a Romance Within the Realms of Faerie' (Vertigo prestige-format miniseries, 1997-1998), followed by the collected illustrated hardcover and trade paperback (Vertigo, 1998). The unillustrated prose edition is a later, separate first. The Charles Vess-illustrated Vertigo edition (1997-1998 miniseries, collected 1998) is the true first appearance. The unillustrated prose version followed in 1999: the US Avon/Spike hardcover (February 1999) is the first prose edition, with the UK Hodder Headline hardcover (1999) issued afterward. Distinguish the illustrated Vess first from the later prose first. The 2007 film tie-in editions are reprints.
• Smoke and Mirrors — 1998 · Avon BooksThe US Avon Books hardcover (November 1998) is the true first. The first printing carries a stated 'First Edition' on the copyright page together with a full number line counting down to 1, and the unclipped jacket shows the printed first-issue price. Dust-jacket photograph by J. K. Potter. Gaiman's first major solo story collection. The US Avon hardcover precedes the UK Headline edition (1999). The Headline edition is later and expanded, adding several stories not in the US first, so it is a separate, subsequent text rather than the true first. No prominent book-club edition for the first printing; later printings advance the number line and drop the stated 'First Edition.' The expanded UK Headline edition is not the first.
• American Gods — 2001 · William Morrow / HarperCollinsFirst printing has the full number line ending in '1' and 'First Edition' stated; jacket with its printed price. (Note: a signed/limited 'author's preferred text' edition came much later — 2011, Headline/Morrow — and is a 'first thus,' not the true first.). US William Morrow hardcover is the true first, near-simultaneous with the UK Headline (2001); the US Morrow is generally taken as the trade true first. Hugo, Nebula, and Locus winner. Book-club editions lack the printed price and carry blind-stamps. The 2011 'Author's Preferred Text' is a later expanded edition, not the first.
• Coraline — 2002 · HarperCollinsIllustrated by Dave McKean. US HarperCollins hardcover published July 2002 with 'First Edition' stated over a complete number line reading 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 on the copyright page. Bound in black paper-covered boards with copper-gilt titling, about 176 pages; the pictorial dust jacket should retain its printed price on the rear panel. UK Bloomsbury hardcover followed in August 2002. US HarperCollins (July 2002) precedes UK Bloomsbury (August 2002), so the US edition is the true first. The Subterranean Press signed limited is a later 2007 edition, collectible but not a first-year issue. Later printings state a higher lowest digit in the number line; a first printing requires the complete line 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 descending to 1 beneath the stated 'First Edition,' with the black boards and copper-gilt spine titling of the trade issue.
• The Sandman: Endless Nights — 2003 · DC Comics / VertigoOriginal graphic-novel hardcover, DC Comics / Vertigo, 2003 (ISBN 1-4012-0089-3), with First Printing stated on the copyright page. Bound in pictorial boards with the painted cover art and overall book design by Dave McKean; interiors by multiple artists (P. Craig Russell, Milo Manara, Miguelanxo Prado, Barron Storey, Bill Sienkiewicz, Glenn Fabry, Frank Quitely). Issued in a pictorial dust jacket that should…. First edition is the 2003 DC/Vertigo hardcover with First Printing on the copyright page. It is frequently cited as one of the earliest graphic novels to debut on the New York Times bestseller list. The trade softcover and all later printings carry later printing statements and are not the first hardcover printing.
• The Wolves in the Walls (with Dave McKean) — 2003 · HarperCollinsChildren's picture book, illus. Dave McKean. US HarperCollins first printing has a full number line 1 through 10 (including 1) on the copyright page; color pictorial boards with black endpapers. UK Bloomsbury edition also 2003. US and UK editions both appeared in 2003; commonly treated as co-firsts, with the US HarperCollins printing the standard collected issue. Later printings drop the 1 from the number line.
• Anansi Boys — 2005 · William MorrowUS William Morrow hardcover published September 20, 2005, with First Edition stated and a full number line; UK Headline hardcover also 2005. Signed US firsts are common from Gaiman's extensive tour signings. US Morrow and UK Headline both 2005; generally treated as co-firsts, with the US Morrow the standard collected edition. Later printings differ; a first printing requires the complete number line.
• Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders — 2006 · William MorrowStory collection. The US William Morrow (HarperCollins) hardcover, dated 2006, is a first edition/first printing when the copyright-page number line runs complete to 1 (descending 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1) with First Edition stated. Bound in white pictorial boards with the design printed in blue, purple and black, and light blue endpapers and pastedowns; the first-issue dust jacket should retain the printed price on…. US Morrow and UK Headline are co-firsts of 2006, published effectively simultaneously (Headline dated September 25, 2006; Morrow September 26). Because the US and UK contents differ slightly, each is the true first of its own text; collectors of the American author generally cite the Morrow printing. Later printings show a number line that no longer descends to 1.
• Interworld (with Michael Reaves) — 2007 · Eos / HarperCollinsYA science fiction. US Eos (HarperCollins) hardcover 2007; copyright page states First Edition with a complete number line including 1. Caution: some copies state First Edition but carry a number line starting at 2 -- those are later printings. Black boards with gilt spine lettering, black endpapers. US Eos hardcover is the true first; a stated First Edition alone is not sufficient -- the number line must reach 1. Later printings retain the First Edition statement but the number line lacks a 1.
• The Graveyard Book — 2008 · HarperCollinsTwo distinct 2008 firsts. US HarperCollins first printing: states First Edition with a complete number line ending in 1, Dave McKean cover and interior art, printed price on the jacket. UK Bloomsbury Children's first printing: Chris Riddell illustrations, number line ending in 1, priced UK jacket. Match the illustrator to the issue. The US HarperCollins edition (released September 30, 2008) preceded the UK Bloomsbury edition (late October 2008). Because the two markets used different illustrators (McKean in the US, Riddell in the UK Children's edition), collectors treat each as the first of its own issue rather than one true first. Later printings carry number lines that no longer end in 1. Confirm the issue by matching illustrator: McKean for the US HarperCollins first, Riddell for the UK Bloomsbury Children's first.
• The Ocean at the End of the Lane — 2013 · William MorrowFirst US trade edition: William Morrow, 2013 (published 18 June 2013), with 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page and a complete number line ending in 1. The jacket carries the printed retail price. US Morrow (June 2013) and UK Headline (2013) appeared effectively simultaneously, so each is the first of its own market. Signed copies are common because Gaiman toured heavily; numbered/limited and signed states exist as premium issues alongside the trade printing. Later printings advance the number line off 1. Book-club copies and later impressions should be distinguished from the stated first printing.
• Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances — 2015 · William MorrowStory collection. Co-published in the US by William Morrow and in the UK by Headline in 2015 (US publication February 3, 2015). The US first printing carries a complete descending number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. The first-issue dust jacket should retain its printed price. A separate limited issue of 250 numbered copies signed by Gaiman on a tipped-in limitation page was issued with Goldsboro Books,…. US Morrow / UK Headline co-first 2015; each is a legitimate first in its territory, identified by the full number line to 1. Later printings drop numbers from the line; the signed retailer-exclusive issues are distinct from the ordinary trade first but are of the same first printing.
• Norse Mythology — 2017 · W.W. NortonUS W.W. Norton and UK Bloomsbury hardcovers, February 2017; the Norton first printing carries the full number line ending in 1. The Norton edition is bound in black cloth over boards with gilt spine lettering and runs 293 pages including a glossary; its glossy black dust jacket bears a gilt hammer illustration on the front panel with gilt title and author lettering. A first-issue jacket retains its printed price…. US Norton / UK Bloomsbury co-first 2017. Later printings advance the number line so the 1 drops off; a first printing shows the complete line ending in 1.

More Fantasy & Horror shelves: Owen West (Dean Koontz), Patrick Rothfuss, Paul Tremblay, Peter S. Beagle, Peter Straub, Ramsey Campbell.

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