# Is "Blaze" by Stephen King (as Richard Bachman) a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Blaze by Stephen King (as Richard Bachman) (Scribner, New York, 2007) 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. 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.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- 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."
- Publisher imprint reads Scribner, New York
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Stephen King (as Richard Bachman) |
| Publisher | Scribner, New York |
| Year | 2007 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Two points must both be present on the copyright page of the first printing: the statement "First Scribner hardcover edition June 2007" and… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## 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."

## 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.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Blaze* by Stephen King (as Richard Bachman) a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/blaze
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.