Is My Coma a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The first printing states the first edition on the copyright page, per Little, Brown's practice since 1940 of stating "First Edition" or "First Printing"; number rows only entered the house's books in the late 1970s, so the stated printing — not a number line — is the operative point on this title
• Binding is the publisher's quarter cloth over paper-covered boards, two-toned (recorded by dealers as a dark spine over grey boards)
• The jacket should be priced with the price present at the front flap and, critically, must not be marked as a club jacket
• Reports of a blind-stamped emblem to the front board appear in a single lower-grade source and are deliberately not reproduced here, since a blindstamp is also the classic club tell and repeating it unconfirmed would invert the test

How Little, Brown and Company marked a first edition

• From 1940 onward: Little, Brown adopted an explicit statement, printing 'First Edition' OR 'First Printing' on the copyright page of a first printing. Presence of that phrase, with no overriding later-printing line, deno…
• Late 1970s onward: Little, Brown added a descending number line to the copyright page. Per the trade-house standard, the first printing is present only when the line still contains a '1' (e.g., '10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1'); t…

Full Little, Brown and Company 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 is confirmed: Little, Brown, Boston (imprint reading Boston and Toronto), 1977 is the true first. The UK issue followed the same year from Pan Books in association with Macmillan, London, 1977, per the Wellcome Collection catalogue record; the US edition holds precedence. Correction to a widespread dealer error: Coma is repeatedly catalogued as "the author's first book", which is wrong — Cook's first novel was Year of the Intern (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1972). Coma is his breakthrough and the founding modern medical thriller, but it is not his debut, and copies described as his first book are misdescribed.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Book-club copies of Coma are common and are documented with an unusually clean tell for this title: the club issue states "Book Club Edition" on the dust jacket itself, and its copyright page does not state the first edition. Check both — a trade first in a club jacket, and a club book in a priced jacket, are both marriages that turn up in the trade.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Coma a first edition?

A first edition of Coma by Robin Cook (Little, Brown and Company) is identified by: The first printing states the first edition on the copyright page, per Little, Brown's practice since 1940 of stating "First Edition" or "First Printing"; number rows only entered the house's books in the late 1970s, so the stated printing — not a number line — is the operative point on this title.

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 is confirmed: Little, Brown, Boston (imprint reading Boston and Toronto), 1977 is the true first.

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

Book-club copies of Coma are common and are documented with an unusually clean tell for this title: the club issue states "Book Club Edition" on the dust jacket itself, and its copyright page does not state the first edition. Check both — a trade first in a club jacket, and a club book in a priced jacket, are both marriages that turn up in the trade.

I have a first edition of Coma — 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.