Philip K. Dick First Editions

• A Handful of Darkness — 1955 · Rich & CowanFirst edition: Rich & Cowan, London, published August 1955, 216 pages. The copyright page reads "First Published – 1955"; there is no date on the title page. FIRST BINDING: blue boards lettered in silver with a rocket/spaceship device on the spine panel — catalogued by L. W. Currey as "first binding of blue boards with spine panel stamped in silver". A later binding state is orange boards (also recorded in blue)…. UK original; Rich & Cowan (London) 1955 is the true first of this collection — there is no competing period US edition, and America did not see one until Gregg Press in 1978. The census is right that the Ace collection The Variable Man (1957) is a different book with different contents. REFUTES the census claim that this is "PKD's first book anywhere": Solar Lottery (Ace Books D-103, a paperback original, May…. No book-club edition is documented for the Rich & Cowan first. The tells that matter are internal to the edition: the 1957 Rich & Cowan second printing; the later orange-boards/black-lettering/griffin binding in place of the first blue-boards/silver/rocket binding; and the later jacket listing World of Chance on the rear panel. The Gregg Press (US) 1978 hardcover is a later reprint and the first American….
• Solar Lottery — 1955 · Ace BooksTrue first is the paperback original Ace Double D-103 (May 1955), bound dos-a-dos with Leigh Brackett's 'The Big Jump.' the printed price; 131 pages on the Dick side; cover art by Valigursky. Dick's first published novel. Bibliographic ref: Levack 38a. The Ace paperback is the true first edition (no prior hardcover). The UK edition was retitled 'World of Chance' (Rich & Cowan, 1956) and uses an earlier, uncut text (Dick had cut six passages for Ace), making it a distinct text but later in time. The D-103 double is the precedent first appearance. No book-club edition. Distinguish from later standalone Ace reprints and from the UK 'World of Chance.' Only the dos-a-dos D-103 double with 'The Big Jump' is the true first.
• The Man Who Japed — 1956 · AceAce Double D-193, a paperback original bound tete-beche (dos-a-dos, back-to-back) with E. C. Tubb's 'The Space-Born'; published December 1956 at a printed cover printed price. The Man Who Japed side carries cover art by Ed Emshwiller, his first of many Ace Double covers. As a paperback original the printed price and the D-193 catalogue number on the covers are the identifying points; there is no dust jacket. The US Ace Double paperback original (D-193, December 1956) is the true first edition; the text was cut by roughly seventy-five typescript pages to fit the Ace Double format. No book-club edition exists; this title appeared only as a paperback original, so later reprints under different Ace or other imprints do not carry the D-193 number.
• The World Jones Made — 1956 · AceAce Double D-150, a tête-bêche (dos-à-dos) paperback original bound head-to-toe back-to-back with Margaret St. Clair's 'Agent of the Unknown', issued March 1956. The Dick side carries cover art by Robert Schulz; pictorial wrappers, no dust jacket, with the printed cover price present. The US Ace Double paperback original (D-150, 1956) is the true first; there was no prior hardcover, and the novel had no earlier magazine serialization. No book club edition; paperback original only. The Ace Double D-150 pairing with 'Agent of the Unknown', the tête-bêche binding, and the Robert Schulz cover identify the first issue; later standalone paperback reprints are reset and are not the first.
• Eye in the Sky — 1957 · AceAce single full-length paperback original, catalog number D-211 (an 'Ace Double-Size Book,' i.e. a single complete novel rather than a dos-a-dos Ace Double). Pictorial wrappers with the celebrated cover art by Ed Valigursky showing a giant eye; the printed cover price appears on the front wrapper. First printing carries the D-211 designation on the cover and spine. The US Ace paperback original (1957) is the true first; the novel was never serialized or issued in hardcover prior to it. Later Ace reprintings appear under different catalog numbers (e.g. the later Ace reissue), so a copy lacking the D-211 designation is not the first printing. No book-club edition; paperback original only. Distinguish later Ace printings by a changed catalog number and revised cover price rather than the original D-211.
• The Cosmic Puppets — 1957 · AceAce Double D-249, a dos-a-dos paperback original bound tete-beche back-to-back with 'Sargasso of Space' by Andre Norton writing as Andrew North. Full-color pictorial wrappers with the printed cover price present and page edges stained orange; the Dick half runs 127 pages. Cover art for the Cosmic Puppets side is by Ed Valigursky (the Norton 'Sargasso of Space' side carries cover art by Ed Emshwiller, signed Emsh). US Ace paperback original is the true first book appearance, expanded by Dick from his 1956 magazine story 'A Glass of Darkness.'. No book club edition; paperback original only. Later stand-alone reprints are distinguished by different Ace catalog numbers and cover art rather than the dos-a-dos D-249 format.
• Time Out of Joint — 1959 · J.B. LippincottJ.B. Lippincott first edition, Philadelphia, 1959, 221 pages, with the stated 'First Edition' on the copyright page and no later-printing statement. Bound in orange cloth with black lettering; the orange spine cloth is prone to sunning, a normal aging trait rather than a state point. First-issue jacket has cover art by Arthur Hawkins and should retain its printed price on the flap. This was Dick's first US…. The US Lippincott hardcover is the true first edition; UK appearances (a book-club issue in 1961, then paperback) followed years later. Book-club copies are typically identifiable by a blind-stamped circle or square on the rear board and an unpriced or price-clipped jacket, and often cheaper paper and binding than the Lippincott trade first.
• Dr. Futurity — 1960 · AceAce Double D-421, a paperback original in pictorial wrappers, bound tête-bêche (dos-à-dos) with John Brunner's Slavers of Space. Published February 1960 with the cover price printed as the printed price. The Dick text runs 138 pages and the Brunner text 118 pages; the Dick cover art is by Ed Valigursky. As a 1960 Ace paperback original there is no number line — the D-421 catalogue number on the wrapper and spine…. The US Ace Double paperback original (D-421) is the true first book appearance. The novel is an expansion of the earlier story Time Pawn, published in the Summer 1954 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories. No book club edition. Later Ace reissues carry a different serial number and price rather than D-421 at the printed price.
• Vulcan's Hammer — 1960 · AceAce Double D-457, a paperback original published September 1960, bound dos-a-dos (tete-beche) with John Brunner's 'The Skynappers'; each side has its own cover, title page and pagination and the volume reads from either end. The Dick side runs 139 pages and the Brunner side 117; the cover artwork is by Ed Emshwiller (Vulcan's Hammer) and Ed Valigursky (The Skynappers). The catalog designation 'D-457' appears on…. US Ace paperback original (Ace Double D-457) is the true first book appearance; there is no preceding hardcover. No book club edition. Later Ace and other paperback reissues drop the dos-a-dos Ace Double format and the D-457 designation, so the tete-beche binding with Brunner's 'The Skynappers' is itself the identifying point.
• The Man in the High Castle — 1962 · G. P. Putnam's SonsFirst printing is bound in black cloth lettered in red on spine and front board, with a yellow top-stain. The identifying point is the Putnam date code "D36" at the foot of the last text page (page 239), with no later-printing statement. The first-issue pictorial dust jacket has art by Robert Galster, carries its printed price at the top of the front flap, and shows the code 1062 at the foot of the flap; the…. The US G. P. Putnam's Sons hardcover (New York, 1962) is the true first, preceding the UK edition. It won the 1963 Hugo Award for best novel and is scarce in a fine first-issue jacket. The Science Fiction Book Club edition states 'Book Club Edition' on the front flap with no printed price, carries a blind-stamped dot or code to the rear board, and is printed on cheaper bulking paper; it lacks the D36 code at the foot of page 239.
• The Game-Players of Titan — 1963 · AceAce single-volume paperback original, catalogue number F-251, 191 pages, with a printed cover printed price. Cover and title-page illustration by Jack Gaughan. As a stand-alone Ace paperback (not an Ace Double), the true first carries the F-251 code on the spine and cover with no statement of a later printing. US Ace paperback original is the true first; standardly catalogued as 1963, though Ace distribution ran into January 1964, and some references date the release to January 1964. No book club edition. Later Ace reissues carry different catalogue numbers and higher cover prices and are not the F-251 first.
• Clans of the Alphane Moon — 1964 · AceAce paperback original, a single-title volume (not an Ace Double), catalog number F-309, with the printed price cover price. Cover art by Ed Valigursky and interior illustrations by Jack Gaughan. Expanded from Dick's 1954 short story 'Shell Game.'. US Ace paperback original (F-309, 1964) is the true first; no prior hardcover edition. No book club edition; identify the first by the F-309 catalog number, the printed price cover price, and the Valigursky cover art.
• Martian Time-Slip — 1964 · BallantineBallantine paperback original, catalogue number U2191, issued April 27, 1964, in pictorial wrappers with cover art by Ralph Brillhart. As a paperback original the point is the printed catalogue number and cover price on the front wrapper; no number line applies. First state has the price printed on the front cover and Ballantine's U2191 designation intact. US Ballantine paperback original is the true first book appearance. Earlier serialized as All We Marsmen in Worlds of Tomorrow (August, October, December 1963), which precedes only in periodical form; the book text is expanded from the serial. No book-club edition; a later Gregg Press hardcover appeared well after and is easily distinguished by its cloth binding and library-format board covers.
• The Penultimate Truth — 1964 · BelmontNew York: Belmont, 1964. Paperback original, catalogue number 92-603, in pictorial wrappers, small octavo, with the price printed on the front cover. The novel was serialized in Fantastic across three issues (March to May 1964) before this Belmont paperback appeared later the same year. The US Belmont paperback original (92-603) is the true first book appearance; the prior Fantastic magazine serialization is periodical, not a book edition. A British hardcover first edition followed. No book club edition; the Belmont paperback is the first book state.
• The Simulacra — 1964 · AceAce single-volume paperback original, catalog number F-301, running 192 pages, with a the printed price cover price and cover art by Ed Emshwiller (signed Emsh). Issued in printed wrappers without a dust jacket, as an Ace paperback original. The US Ace paperback original, published August 1964, is the true first book appearance. The novel expands the earlier novelette The Novelty Act, first printed in Fantastic, retitled before book publication. No book club edition.
• Dr. Bloodmoney, or How We Got Along After the Bomb — 1965 · AceAce paperback original, catalog number F-337, with a the printed price cover price and cover and interior art by Jack Gaughan. The front cover carries a First Book Publication statement, confirming the mass-market paperback as the original book issue; as a paperback original it was issued in printed wrappers without a dust jacket. The US Ace paperback original (1965) is the true first edition and precedes any hardcover appearance. The novel was a 1965 Nebula Award nominee. No book club edition; the title first appeared only as the Ace paperback.
• The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch — 1965 · Doubleday"First Edition" stated on the copyright page; 1965 on the title page; gutter/printing code on the last text page; price-clipped jackets aside, the first-issue jacket carries the original Doubleday price on the front flap. US Doubleday first hardcover is the true first. Book Club edition lacks the stated 'First Edition', is in a thinner binding with a blind stamp to the rear board, and has a price-free jacket.
• Now Wait for Last Year — 1966 · DoubledayFirst edition published by Doubleday & Company, Garden City, New York, 1966, in the Doubleday science fiction series. 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page with the gutter code H9 on the final leaf of text; cloth binding with gilt spine lettering. The first-issue jacket carries the original Doubleday price printed on the front flap. The US Doubleday first hardcover is the true first edition. The Book Club edition lacks the stated 'First Edition' and the gutter code, is on cheaper bulked paper, carries a price-less jacket, and shows the customary blind-stamped depression to the lower rear board.
• The Crack in Space — 1966 · AceAce paperback original, catalog number F-377, February 1966; pictorial wrappers with cover art by Jerome Podwil and a the printed price printed on the front cover; roughly 16.5 cm tall, 190 pages, with the characteristic yellow-stained top edge. Being a paperback original, there is no number line; the F-377 catalog code and the printed price cover price fix the first printing. Cited as Currey 158. US Ace paperback original (F-377) is the true first edition; the novel had no prior hardcover. No book-club edition. Later Ace reissues carry different catalog numbers and higher printed cover prices, so the F-377 code with the printed price distinguishes the first printing.
• The Unteleported Man — 1966 · AceAce Double, catalog number G-602, bound dos-a-dos with 'The Mind Monsters' by Howard L. Cory, with the printed price cover price. This is the first book publication of the original (shorter) text. Later revised and expanded, and posthumously published as 'Lies, Inc.'. US Ace Double paperback original is the true first book appearance (the story first ran in Fantastic, 1964). No book club edition.
• Counter-Clock World — 1967 · BerkleyBerkley Medallion paperback original, catalog number X1372, the printed price cover price, published February 1967. Expands the earlier short story 'Your Appointment Will Be Yesterday' (Amazing Stories, August 1966). The US Berkley Medallion paperback original is the true first edition in book form. No book club edition. Issued as a paperback original.
• The Ganymede Takeover — 1967 · AceAce Books paperback original, catalog number G-637, written with co-author Ray Nelson, with cover art by Jack Gaughan; the wraps carry the G-637 catalog number and the original printed cover price, and the text runs to 157 pages. As a mid-1960s Ace paperback original there is no printer's number line; the G-637 catalog designation on the front cover and spine, together with the intact printed cover price, is the…. The US Ace paperback original (G-637) is the true first edition; there was no prior or simultaneous hardcover, so this softcover is the first appearance in book form. No book club edition and no hardcover edition of this period. Issued only as an Ace paperback original, identified by the G-637 catalog number.
• The Zap Gun — 1967 · PyramidPyramid Books paperback original, catalog number R-1569, the printed price cover price, cover art by Jack Gaughan. The novel had earlier appeared as the two-part magazine serial 'Project Plowshare' in Worlds of Tomorrow (1965-1966), which precedes any book form. The US Pyramid paperback original is the true first edition in book form; the magazine serialization predates it but is not a book. No book club edition. As a paperback original there is no hardcover or club issue.
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? — 1968 · DoubledayDoubleday first edition, Garden City, NY, March 1968, 210 pages. First printing carries the stated 'First Edition' on the copyright page with no later-printing statement, confirmed by the Doubleday date code 'J5' (fifth week of 1968) in the lower right margin of the final text page, page 210. Bound in gray cloth with gilt spine lettering, 8vo. First-issue jacket has cover art by Harry Sehring and should retain…. The US Doubleday hardcover is the true first, preceding the UK Rapp & Whiting edition of 1969. The priced first-issue jacket is the key identification point; PKD firsts are scarce and frequently lack jackets, so verify the gray cloth, the 'First Edition' statement, and the 'J5' code on page 210 together. The Doubleday/SFBC book-club edition shows 'Book Club Edition' on the front jacket flap with no printed price, a blind-stamped dot (gutter code) on the rear board, bulkier and cheaper paper stock, and lacks the 'J5' date code found in the trade first. The BCE is common; the trade first in a priced first-issue jacket is far scarcer.
• Galactic Pot-Healer — 1969 · BerkleyBerkley Medallion paperback original, Berkley book number X1705 (not S1681), the printed price cover price, published June 1969, cover art by Sandy Kossin. As a mass-market paperback original there is no dust jacket; the wraps themselves and the X1705 number with the printed price identify the first issue. The US Berkley Medallion paperback original is the true first edition, preceding the 1969 Science Fiction Book Club (Nelson Doubleday) hardcover. No book club edition of the first issue; issued as a paperback original. (A Book Club hardcover of the later Doubleday-line edition is a separate later issue and is not the first.).
• Ubik — 1969 · DoubledayFirst edition states 'First Edition' on the copyright page with '1969' on the title page, and carries a Doubleday gutter/printing code on the final text page consistent with the first printing. Jacket priced on the flap. US Doubleday 1969 is the true first; UK Rapp & Whiting 1970 follows. Doubleday book-club edition lacks the 'First Edition' statement, has a blindstamp, no flap price, and a different gutter code. Common.
• A Maze of Death — 1970 · DoubledayDoubleday first hardcover, published July 1970, royal blue cloth with silver spine lettering, 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page, a date code (L21) at the lower margin of the last text page (page 216), and a priced dust jacket. Most of the print run was reportedly pulped, leaving mainly library and review copies in circulation. The US Doubleday hardcover is the first edition. Book club edition lacks the stated 'First Edition', carries the Doubleday blind stamp (small dot or maple-leaf) on the rear board, and has an unpriced jacket.
• Our Friends from Frolix 8 — 1970 · AceAce Books paperback original, 1970, catalog number 64400, carrying its printed cover price, with cover art by John Schoenherr. The first printing bears no additional-printing statement on the copyright page. The 1970 US Ace paperback original is the true first edition; unusually for Dick of this period, the book appeared first in wraps rather than in hardcover. The first hardcover was the UK edition, which did not appear until 1989, long after the Ace original. No book-club edition of the first issue; the title was issued as a mass-market paperback original.
• We Can Build You — 1972 · DAWDAW paperback original, DAW SF Books No. 14, catalog code UQ1014, cover art by John Schoenherr; July 1972. Earlier magazine serialization as 'A. Lincoln, Simulacrum' in Amazing Stories (Nov 1969 and Jan 1970) precedes the book. US DAW paperback original is the true first book edition. No book club edition; this is a paperback original.
• Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said — 1974 · Doubleday'First Edition' stated on the copyright page; date code '050' (50th week of 1973) at the lower margin of the final text page; jacket carries the price (not clipped). Bound in rust cloth with silver spine lettering. John W. Campbell Memorial Award winner. US Doubleday first hardcover is the true first. Book club edition lacks the 'First Edition' statement and the date code, has no jacket price, and shows the blind stamp on the rear board typical of Doubleday club issues.
• Confessions of a Crap Artist — 1975 · Entwhistle BooksTotal edition of 1,000 copies, issued simultaneously in cloth and in wrappers. The 500 hardbound copies carry the statement "First edition: 500 copies, cloth bound" on the copyright page — that line is the operative test. Of those 500, 90 were signed by Dick on the copyright page and numbered; the remaining 410 are the unsigned trade copies, bound in burgundy cloth lettered in gilt (Currey binding A), collating…. US small-press original, and the only mainstream (non-SF) novel Dick published in his lifetime; written c. 1959. There is no earlier or simultaneous edition in any territory and no original-language question. The first British publication is the Magnum Books paperback (London, 1979) — four years later and not a first edition. One live discrepancy: library cataloguing records the imprint place as Glen Ellen,…. No book-club edition is documented for this title. The reprint tell is Entwhistle's own 1978 printing (LCCN 78105009), with the same pagination; dealers report that later sheets were bound up without the "first edition" line, so a cloth copy lacking that copyright-page statement is not a first. All other appearances are plainly imprinted reprints: Magnum (London, 1979), Pocket Books (1982), Paladin (1989),….
• A Scanner Darkly — 1977 · DoubledayFirst edition states 'First Edition' on the copyright page with no additional printings listed, and carries a Doubleday gutter/printing code (typically 'G51') in the lower margin of the final text page (page 216) consistent with the January 1977 first printing. Bound in beige paper-covered boards with black spine lettering, octavo. The first-issue dust jacket bears artwork by the Quay Brothers (the Quays) and the…. US Doubleday (Garden City, New York), January 1977, is the true first; the UK Gollancz edition follows later the same year. The Doubleday book-club edition is a separate issue: it omits the 'First Edition' statement, carries a blindstamp (small blank indentation) on the rear board, has a jacket with no printed price, and shows different gutter codes such as H05 or H13. Common.
• The Divine Invasion — 1981 · Timescape/Simon & SchusterTimescape Books (distributed by Simon & Schuster) first hardcover, ISBN 0-671-41776-5; the copyright page carries the full number line 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1, and the correct first-printing dust jacket bears the date code 0681 on the rear flap. The first-state jacket carries its printed price (not clipped) and reproduces the cover painting by Rowena Morrill. Second book of the VALIS trilogy. The US Timescape first hardcover is the true first. It was the last book by Dick published during his lifetime; he died about eight months after publication. The 1981 book-club edition has no printed price on the jacket, a smaller and lighter binding, and lacks the 0681 flap date code; identify the true first by the complete number line ending in 1 and the 0681 code.
• VALIS — 1981 · BantamBantam Books paperback original, February 1981; first book of the VALIS trilogy, preceding The Divine Invasion (1981) and The Transmigration of Timothy Archer (1982). As a mass-market paperback original there is no descending number line; the first Bantam printing, with no later-printing statement on the copyright page and the original cover price present, is the issue point. US Bantam paperback original is the true first; the Kerosina UK hardcover is a much later edition. There is no earlier hardcover state. No book-club edition; this is a paperback original. Confirm the copyright page carries no additional-printing statement to distinguish the first printing from later Bantam printings of the same setting.
• The Transmigration of Timothy Archer — 1982 · Timescape/Simon & SchusterTimescape (Simon & Schuster) first hardcover; full number line on the copyright page; jacket priced (not clipped). Bound in quarter black cloth over red boards with gilt spine titling. Dick's final novel, published the year he died. US Timescape first hardcover is the true first. Later Quality Paperback Book Club and other club issues are not the Timescape first; identify the true first by the complete number line and priced jacket.
• Radio Free Albemuth — 1985 · Arbor HouseFirst printing carries the full number line "10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1" on the copyright page — the operative test; any copy whose line has been stripped of the terminal 1 is a later printing. Quarter navy cloth over boards, spine lettered in light blue; collation [10], 3-214, [2] pp.; ISBN 0877957622. Jacket art by Ron Walotsky, jacket design by Dorothy Wachtenheim, price present at the front flap. No first-state…. US posthumous original; the census claim is correct. Written in 1976 and set aside after Dick reworked the material into VALIS; Arbor House acquired it in 1985 and published it from the corrected typescript Dick had given his friend Tim Powers. There is no earlier edition in any territory and no original-language precedence issue. The first British publications both come two years later and are true seconds: the…. A Science Fiction Book Club hardcover followed in 1986 using the same Walotsky jacket art, and it is routinely miscatalogued online as "Arbor House 1985" — this is the main trap. Tells: no Arbor House number line on the copyright page, no price at the jacket front flap, a blind-stamped device at the rear board, and a smaller, lighter bulk. The Avon paperback (1987) and Vintage trade paperback (1998) are plainly….

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