Is My Blaze a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Two points must both be present on the copyright page of the first printing: the statement "First Scribner hardcover edition June 2007" and the full number line "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10." The numeral 1 in that row is the operative point — its removal marks a second printing, so a row beginning at 2 or higher is a reprint regardless of the edition statement
• Trim size of the trade issue is recorded as 5.7 x 8¾ x 1.1 inches
• The jacket should be priced (price present at the upper corner of the front flap, unclipped)
• No first-state text error, cancel, or binding variant separating first-printing copies is recorded in the King identification bibliography or in the dealer descriptions consulted; identification rests on the edition statement and number line together
• The volume carries King's foreword acknowledging the Bachman pseudonym and the bonus story "Memory."

How Scribner, New York marked a first edition

• After 1973 the letter code was abandoned in favor of a descending number line ending in 1.

Full Scribner, New York first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
4. Verify this is the UK true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
6. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

The census claim stands: the true first is Scribner, New York, June 12, 2007, and the UK first is Hodder & Stoughton, London, 2007, announced for the same day — a genuine simultaneous or near-simultaneous release. Both are collected, and neither displaces the other on date; US Scribner is conventionally taken as the first, with the Hodder treated as the first UK edition. Note the deeper "first thus" issue peculiar to this title: Blaze is a rewritten early trunk novel published under the Bachman name decades after composition, so the 2007 Scribner is the first appearance of the text in any form — there is no earlier Bachman paperback state to hunt, unlike the five original Bachman novels.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The tell recorded in the King identification bibliography is the jacket: book-club jackets carry no price inside the front flap, where trade jackets do, and later-printing trade jackets often carry a different price from the one recorded for the first. Club copies are also frequently smaller than the trade trim recorded above (5.7 x 8¾ x 1.1 inches), which is why trim is given in the bibliography at all. Be aware that club jackets are sometimes married onto trade copies to replace damaged jackets, so the book and its jacket must be checked separately.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Blaze a first edition?

A first edition of Blaze by Stephen King (as Richard Bachman) (Scribner, New York) is identified by: Two points must both be present on the copyright page of the first printing: the statement "First Scribner hardcover edition June 2007" and the full number line "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10." The numeral 1 in that row is the operative point — its removal marks a second printing, so a row beginning at 2 or higher is a reprint regardless of the edition statement.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). The census claim stands: the true first is Scribner, New York, June 12, 2007, and the UK first is Hodder & Stoughton, London, 2007, announced for the same day — a genuine simultaneous or near-simultaneous release.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

The tell recorded in the King identification bibliography is the jacket: book-club jackets carry no price inside the front flap, where trade jackets do, and later-printing trade jackets often carry a different price from the one recorded for the first. Club copies are also frequently smaller than the trade trim recorded above (5.7 x 8¾ x 1.1 inches), which is why trim is given in the bibliography at all. Be aware that club jackets are sometimes married onto trade copies to replace damaged jacket

I have a first edition of Blaze — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.