# Is "Black Sunday" by Thomas Harris a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Black Sunday by Thomas Harris (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1975) is identified by: First edition, first printing: New York, G. New York: G.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first printing: New York, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1975, 318 pp., red cloth-covered boards lettered in gold on the spine
- The copyright page carries no reference to edition or printing, so the jacket carries the load: the top of the front flap has the price present together with 'SBN: 399-11443-2', and the bottom of the front flap carries the code '7501'
- A further book point: there is no printing in the gutter of the second-to-last page on true firsts
- The jacket must be unclipped with the price intact
- Publisher imprint reads G. P. Putnam's Sons
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Thomas Harris |
| Publisher | G. P. Putnam's Sons |
| Year | 1975 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first printing: New York, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1975, 318 pp., red cloth-covered boards lettered in gold on the spine |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First edition, first printing: New York, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1975, 318 pp., red cloth-covered boards lettered in gold on the spine. The copyright page carries no reference to edition or printing, so the jacket carries the load: the top of the front flap has the price present together with 'SBN: 399-11443-2', and the bottom of the front flap carries the code '7501'. A further book point: there is no printing in the gutter of the second-to-last page on true firsts. The jacket must be unclipped with the price intact.

## Is this the true first?
New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1975 is the true first edition (US original). The first UK edition (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1975 — black cloth lettered in gilt, priced jacket) followed and is collected separately as the first UK printing of Harris's debut.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The book-club edition closely mimics the true first and is a documented trap: its jacket lacks the '7501' code at the flap bottom and lacks the SBN beneath the price, and the book may show printing in the gutter of the second-from-last page — check all three tells.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Black Sunday* by Thomas Harris a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/black-sunday
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.