Roger Zelazny First Editions

• ...And Call Me Conrad (aka This Immortal) — 1966 · Ace BooksPaperback original, Ace F-393, the printed price, titled 'This Immortal' (the book version, abridged from the F&SF serial '...And Call Me Conrad'); July 1966; 174 pp; cover art by Gray Morrow. First Ace printing has the F-393 code and no reprint statement. The Ace 1966 paperback 'This Immortal' is the true first book edition; the magazine serial was titled '...And Call Me Conrad' (F&SF, October and November 1965). The first hardcover is Rapp & Whiting (UK, 1967), which restored the fuller text, a first thus. No notable US book club edition; the UK Rapp & Whiting hardcover, though textually fuller, is later than the Ace paperback. Later Ace printings add printing statements.
• The Dream Master — 1966 · AceAce paperback original, catalog number F-403, October 1966, with cover art by Frank Kelly Freas; 155 pages, with its printed price on the cover. Expanded from the novella 'He Who Shapes' (Amazing Stories, 1965; 1965 Nebula winner). The Freas cover and the F-403 designation identify the first printing. US Ace paperback original (F-403) is the true first book edition; there was no simultaneous hardcover. No book club edition; as an Ace paperback original there is no hardcover book-club issue to confuse it with.
• This Immortal — 1966 · AceAce paperback original, F-393, July 1966, Gray Morrow cover. Zelazny's first novel. Expands the abridged magazine serial '...And Call Me Conrad' (F&SF, October and November 1965), restoring most of the cut text. Joint 1966 Hugo winner (with Dune). US Ace paperback original is the true first book edition; the shorter serial precedes it in periodical form only. No book club edition. The first hardcover is the later Rapp & Whiting UK edition.
• Four for Tomorrow — 1967 · AceAce paperback original, H-25, 1967. Zelazny's first story collection, with an introduction by Theodore Sturgeon; gathers 'The Furies,' 'The Graveyard Heart,' 'The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth,' and 'A Rose for Ecclesiastes.' UK edition retitled A Rose for Ecclesiastes (1969). US Ace paperback original is the true first edition; the UK hardcover/paperback under the A Rose for Ecclesiastes title followed in 1969. No book club edition.
• Lord of Light — 1967 · DoubledayTrue first edition: Doubleday & Company, Garden City, New York, 1967, with 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page and no later-printing line. Collation is [vi] + 257 pages. Bound in publisher's dark blue cloth with silver lettering on the spine. The first-issue dust jacket carries the printed cover price on the front flap; a price-clipped example loses that corner but remains the trade first if the…. The US Doubleday hardcover of 1967 is the true first edition, first printing, identified by 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page, dark blue cloth with silver spine lettering, [vi]+257 pagination, and the priced first-issue jacket. Doubleday issued this title through its book clubs, and a club body is distinguished not by the copyright-page wording (clubs often reproduce the trade page) but by physical tells: a blind-stamped dot or square impressed into the lower rear board, a gutter code stamped at the foot of one of the last text pages, and thinner, cheaper paper and boards; club jackets are unpriced. Use the stated 'First Edition' line….
• Creatures of Light and Darkness — 1969 · Doubleday'First Edition' stated on the copyright page, with the Doubleday printing code 'K30' at the foot of the last text leaf (page 187). Bound in black cloth lettered in gilt to the spine. The first-issue dust jacket retains the printed price on the front flap. US Doubleday hardcover first edition, first printing (1969). Book club edition: blind-stamped indentation to the rear board, no 'First Edition' statement, and no printed price on the jacket.
• Damnation Alley — 1969 · G.P. Putnam's SonsFirst edition has no later-printing statement on the copyright page; first-issue jacket is priced on the front flap (4.95). Red cloth; jacket art by Jack Gaughan. Expanded from the Galaxy novella. Currey 570. US Putnam first hardcover. Book club editions lack the priced jacket flap and typically carry a blind stamp to the rear board.
• Isle of the Dead — 1969 · AceAce paperback original, 1969, carrying the Ace catalog number 37465, with wrapper art by Leo and Diane Dillon; issued in the original Ace Science Fiction Specials series. Nebula nominee for Best Novel. As a wrappered original there is no number line; identify the true first by the 37465 catalog number, the priced first-printing wrappers, and the absence of any later-printing statement. US Ace paperback original (Ace 37465) is the true first edition, published 1969; the Rapp & Whiting UK hardcover followed in 1970 and reprints the Ace text. No book club edition. Distinguish the true first from later Ace reissues, which carry different catalog numbers and, in one case, a Dean Ellis cover rather than the Dillon wrapper art.
• Nine Princes in Amber — 1970 · DoubledayDoubleday & Company, Garden City, New York, 1970, first edition. Bound in dark cobalt-blue cloth with silver lettering to the spine; copies commonly show the light glue-bleed staining along the gutter margins typical of Doubleday printings of this period. The first-issue dust jacket carries the printed price on the front flap (the price should be present, not clipped, on an unrestored jacket). Much of the…. US Doubleday (Garden City) first hardcover, 1970; cornerstone of the Chronicles of Amber and scarce owing to the accidental pulping of much of the print run. Book-club editions and later printings reprint the text but are not the first edition and are far less collectible. The Literary Guild, Mystery Guild, and Doubleday Book Club run through this house; their club editions carry a five-digit code block on the jacket and a rear-board blind stamp — not the same as the trade first. Use the points above to be certain — see book-club edition vs. first edition.
• Jack of Shadows — 1971 · WalkerWalker & Company first hardcover, New York, 1971 (collating [iv]207[3] pp.); the author's first hardcover book appearance of this novel following its serialization in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, whose text differs slightly. Bound in white boards with the title and author lettered in black on the spine. The first-issue dust jacket bears cover art by Judith Loeser and should retain its printed price…. The US Walker & Company first hardcover is the true first (first hardcover book appearance); the UK Faber edition (1972) follows. The F&SF serialization precedes book form but differs slightly in text. A Science Fiction Book Club edition exists, distributed from the Walker sheets (first club printing September 1971, SFBC catalogue number 3438, gutter code 33M); like other club printings it is more cheaply bound and its jacket omits the printed price, whereas the Walker trade first retains its printed price on the flap.
• The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth, and Other Stories — 1971 · Doubleday & Company, Inc.Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York, 1971. "First Edition" is stated on the copyright page beneath the copyright notice — Doubleday house practice from 1927 to 2000 — with no number line. Publisher's dark blue cloth, the spine lettered in silver; collates [x], 229 pp.; fifteen stories. The jacket should be priced at the flap (price present, unclipped). One caution that trips people up: Doubleday…. US first, and the census call is correct: the Doubleday 1971 is the true first edition and no UK edition precedes it. The first UK edition was published by Faber and Faber, London — original yellow cloth, spine lettered in black, dust jacket illustrated by Dennis Leigh, ISBN 0571101054 — and is collected as the first British edition. Dealer listings date the Faber issue inconsistently to both 1971 and 1973 and…. This is the central trap for Doubleday science fiction and the reason a stated "First Edition" settles nothing here: Science Fiction Book Club printings of Doubleday titles can RETAIN the "First Edition" statement on the copyright page. A book-club copy remains a book-club copy regardless of that statement. The tells are physical and on the jacket: a small blind-stamped square (or comparable blindstamp) at the….
• The Guns of Avalon — 1972 · Doubleday"First Edition" stated on the copyright page, with no Doubleday gutter code present on the last text page; on later printings the statement is dropped and a gutter code (such as N41) appears on the final page. The pictorial dust jacket bears cover art by Emanuel Schongut, carries the printed price on the front flap, and reproduces a photograph of Zelazny by Judy Zelazny on the rear panel. Second Amber novel. US Doubleday first hardcover, Garden City, 1972. Book club editions omit the "First Edition" statement, carry a gutter code on the last text page, show the blind stamp to the rear board, and come in an unpriced jacket.
• To Die in Italbar — 1973 · Doubleday"First Edition" stated on the copyright page, with no Doubleday gutter code on the last text page. Bound in pale blue (turquoise) boards with lettering to the spine, octavo, 182 pages. Jacket art by Margo Herr; the jacket retains its printed price. US Doubleday first hardcover, first printing (1973). Book club editions omit the "First Edition" statement, carry the gutter code on the last text page, and show a blind stamp with an unpriced jacket.
• Today We Choose Faces — 1973 · Signet/NALSignet (New American Library) paperback original, catalog number 451-Q5435, with cover art by Dean Ellis and the price printed on the cover. The first printing carries no later-printing statement. The US Signet paperback original (1973) is the true first. The first hardcover appearance followed in the UK from Millington (London, 1974), issued in blue cloth with gilt title to the spine; a US Gregg Press hardcover followed in 1978. No book club edition applies; this title is a paperback original, so identification rests on the Signet 451-Q5435 first printing rather than a number line or club tell.
• Sign of the Unicorn — 1975 · DoubledayDoubleday hardcover with "First Edition" stated on the copyright page and a printing code on the last page of text (the first printing carries the code Q1). The dust jacket is priced. Third Amber novel. US Doubleday first hardcover is the true first edition. Book club editions lack the "First Edition" statement and the priced jacket, and typically show a blind stamp on the rear board.
• Bridge of Ashes — 1976 · Signet/NALSignet (New American Library) mass-market paperback original, catalogue number Y7080, published July 1976, 154 pages; first printing so stated on the copyright page with the printer's key intact and the original cover price present. Cover illustration by Gene Szafran. The 1976 Signet paperback original is the true first edition; no hardcover preceded it. The first hardcover did not appear until 1979 (Gregg Press) and reprints the Signet text, so it is a first-hardcover issue rather than the priority edition. Not applicable; paperback original with no book club edition. A later 1981 Signet reissue carries a different catalogue number and pairs the novel with Today We Choose Faces under a new Szafran cover, and the 1979 Gregg Press hardcover is a reprint, not a first.
• Doorways in the Sand — 1976 · Harper & RowUS Harper & Row hardcover, 1976, first printing. Harper & Row of this period identifies a first printing by the words 'FIRST EDITION' stated on the copyright page together with a complete number line ending in 1; a genuine first shows both. The dust jacket is priced on the flap. Hugo- and Nebula-nominated novel. US Harper & Row first hardcover is the true first edition. Note that Harper & Row sometimes left the 'FIRST EDITION' statement standing on later printings, so confirm the number line still runs down to 1. Book Club (BCE/BOMC) editions lack the priced jacket, are typically smaller and on cheaper paper, and show a blind stamp on the rear board; they carry no complete number line ending in 1.
• My Name Is Legion — 1976 · Ballantine/Del ReyBallantine Books mass-market paperback original, first printing April 1976; 'First Edition' so stated on the copyright page, with the Ballantine catalog number 24867 on the spine and cover (issued as a paperback original, PBO #24867). Linked story collection, 213 pages; cover art by the Brothers Hildebrandt. As a paperback original the first printing carries no later-printing statement on the copyright page. The April 1976 Ballantine paperback original is the true first edition; the first hardcover (Faber & Faber, London) did not appear until 1979 and is a later form. Not applicable; paperback original, no book-club edition. Later Ballantine/Del Rey printings carry a higher print-line number or added printing statement and a later catalog number.
• The Hand of Oberon — 1976 · DoubledayDoubleday hardcover with "First Edition" stated on the copyright page. Doubleday firsts of this era also carry a gutter/printer's code at the foot of the last page of text (a year-letter plus week number); the presence of the "First Edition" statement is the governing point. Issued in a priced dust jacket, the first-issue jacket retaining the printed price on the front flap. Fourth Amber novel. US Doubleday first hardcover is the true first edition; the UK Faber edition followed and does not precede it. Book-club editions lack the "First Edition" statement, have an unpriced jacket (often "Book Club Edition" on the flap), typically show a blind stamp on the rear board, and are printed on lighter bulking paper.
• The Courts of Chaos — 1978 · DoubledayDoubleday & Company hardcover (Garden City, 1978) with "First Edition" stated on the copyright page and the Doubleday gutter code stamped in the gutter of the last page of text; for a 1978 first printing this code takes the year letter T followed by a week number. The dust jacket, with cover art by Freff, carries its printed price. Fifth Amber novel, completing the first Corwin cycle. The US Doubleday first hardcover is the true first edition, confirmed by the stated "First Edition" line together with the T-year gutter code on the last text page. Book club editions lack the "First Edition" statement and the priced jacket, carry no trade gutter code, and typically show a blind stamp on the rear board.
• Roadmarks — 1979 · Del Rey / BallantineFirst edition, first printing in hardcover from Del Rey / Ballantine (New York, 1979; 185 pages; ISBN 0345285301), with "First Edition" and the number line present on the copyright page. Bound in quarter cream cloth over rust paper-covered boards, stamped in copper. The first-issue dust jacket should retain its printed price (unclipped preferred). US Del Rey hardcover is the true first edition (published October 12, 1979). A Science Fiction Book Club hardcover exists, identified by the absence of a printed jacket price, a blind-stamped code dot to the rear board, and the lighter book-club board bulk; not a true first.
• Changeling — 1980 · Ace BooksFirst edition, first printing is the Ace trade paperback original, illustrated by Esteban Maroto, in pictorial wrappers with the cover price printed. There is no priced Ace trade hardcover; the only hardcover is a book club issue. US Ace illustrated trade paperback original is the true first edition. A Science Fiction Book Club hardcover was issued in 1980 (black boards, blue spine lettering, gutter code K25 on page 250 for a June 1980 printing); it is a book club edition, not a true first.
• The Last Defender of Camelot — 1980 · Pocket BooksPaperback original; first printing from Pocket Books under its Timescape imprint, catalogued as Pocket number 41773 and issued December 1980, roughly 308 pages, with wraparound cover art by Carl Lundgren. This story collection assembled by Zelazny appeared first in this mass-market softcover form; a first printing shows the Pocket/Timescape imprint on the copyright page with no later-printing statement. US Pocket Books (Timescape) paperback original, Pocket 41773, December 1980, is the true first appearance of the collection. The later Underwood-Miller hardcover is a separate collectible reprint of the contents, not the first appearance. No book club edition of the paperback original; as a mass-market original there is no separate BCE to confuse with the first printing.
• The Changing Land — 1981 · Del Rey / Ballantine; Underwood-MillerThe Del Rey / Ballantine mass-market paperback original (April 1981, cover art by Michael Herring) is the first published edition. The Underwood-Miller hardcover, illustrated by Thomas Canty, is a signed, numbered limited edition of 200 copies signed by Zelazny and Canty on the limitation page and is the first hardcover. The Del Rey paperback original preceded the Underwood-Miller hardcover; the Underwood-Miller signed/limited is the collectible first hardcover but not the first published form. A Del Rey hardcover book club edition also exists and is not a true first.
• The Last Defender of Camelot signed/numbered — 1981 · Underwood-MillerUnderwood-Miller (San Francisco and Columbia, Pennsylvania), 1981, the first hardcover edition of the enlarged story collection. Issued as a limited edition of 350 copies, of which 333 numbered copies were signed by Roger Zelazny. Octavo, publisher's cloth binding, with interior illustrations by Alicia Austin; the signed and numbered limitation identifies the copy. This enlarged collection adds four stories not…. This 1981 Underwood-Miller signed/numbered issue is the first hardcover edition of the collection in this enlarged form; it should be distinguished from the separate scarce 1980 Underwood/Miller chapbook printing of the title short story alone, issued for V-Con 8 in small hardbound and softcover states, which contains only the single story rather than the full collection. No book-club edition of this limited collection. Later trade reprints and any book-club printings reproduce the text but lack the numbered limitation and the author's signature, and are not the first edition.
• Eye of Cat — 1982 · Timescape / Simon & SchusterFirst edition, first printing from Timescape (Simon & Schuster) carries the Simon & Schuster gnomonic number line reading 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 on the copyright page, with a priced dust jacket. A separate Underwood-Miller signed, numbered limited edition of 333 copies was also issued. US Timescape / Simon & Schuster trade hardcover is the true first; the Underwood-Miller signed/limited is a parallel collectible. A book club hardcover exists, identified by the absence of a jacket price and standard book-club markers; not a true first.
• Trumps of Doom — 1985 · Arbor House; Underwood-MillerFirst edition, first printing from Arbor House with a number line on the copyright page and an unclipped, priced dust jacket. First Merlin novel and seventh Amber book. A parallel Underwood-Miller signed/limited edition was also issued. US Arbor House trade hardcover is the true first edition; the Underwood-Miller signed/limited is a parallel collectible. A book club hardcover exists, identified by a smaller, lighter binding, the absence of a jacket price, and a blind stamp on the rear board; not a true first.
• Way Up High signed/numbered limited — 1992 · Donald M. GrantDonald M. Grant, Publisher, 1992, illustrated by Vaughn Bodé. The signed/numbered limited was issued as part of a two-volume slipcased set pairing Way Up High with Here There Be Dragons, limited to 1,000 numbered copies with each volume individually signed by Roger Zelazny. The true limited is identified by the hand-numbered limitation and Zelazny's signature; the volumes are cloth-bound with dust jackets and…. First edition thus, published 1992 by Donald M. Grant after the long-delayed release of text Zelazny had written years earlier; the signed/numbered slipcased set is the limited issue of this first publication. There is no book-club edition of this small-press title. The distinction to watch is the signed/numbered slipcased limited (1,000 copies, signed) versus the unsigned trade edition; only the numbered, signed copies are the limited.
• A Night in the Lonesome October signed first — 1993 · AvoNovaThe true first edition is the Morrow AvoNova hardcover of 1993. The first printing states "First Morrow AvoNova Printing: August 1993" on the copyright page and carries a full number line ending in 1. The text is punctuated by thirty-three full-page Gahan Wilson illustrations (one per chapter, plus one on the inside back cover). The dust jacket should retain its printed price at the top of the front flap (do not…. The US Morrow AvoNova hardcover (August 1993) is the true first edition. Copies additionally signed by illustrator Gahan Wilson exist and are sought after, but the signature is a desirability point, not an edition point. Book-club editions and later printings reprint the text but are not the first edition and are far less collectible. A book-club copy typically lacks the "First Morrow AvoNova Printing: August 1993" statement and the full number line ending in 1, and often has a blind stamp to the rear board and no printed jacket price. Use the points above to be certain — see book-club edition vs. first edition.

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