Is My Death Instinct a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Signet mass-market paperback original, 1992, first published under the Phillip Emmons pseudonym (ISBN 0-451-17284-1), with a number line on the copyright page
• Issued only in paperback with a single printing and no hardcover, so the 1992 Signet paperback is the original form of the book

How Signet marked a first edition

• First printing: the copyright page states 'First Printing' (often as 'First Signet printing, Month Year') with no later-printing lines; later printings stack the printing history. This explicit statement is the most reli…
• Signet/NAL adopted a descending number line; a complete line ending in 1 indicates a first printing. From roughly the 1970s on the 'First Signet printing, Month Year' line plus the number line appear together.

Full Signet first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. 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.
3. Verify this is the UK true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. 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.
5. 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?

Paperback original issued under the Phillip Emmons pseudonym; this is the same book as the Phillip Emmons entry and should be deduplicated downstream. The single 1992 Signet paperback printing is the true first. The UK edition, retitled Evil Deeds (1994), appeared under Little's real name and followed the US original.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

N/A (paperback original); no book-club issue exists.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Death Instinct a first edition?

A first edition of Death Instinct by Bentley Little (Signet) is identified by: Signet mass-market paperback original, 1992, first published under the Phillip Emmons pseudonym (ISBN 0-451-17284-1), with a number line on the copyright page.

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). Paperback original issued under the Phillip Emmons pseudonym; this is the same book as the Phillip Emmons entry and should be deduplicated downstream.

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

N/A (paperback original); no book-club issue exists.

I have a first edition of Death Instinct — what should I do?

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 lost. To sell, see the author’s collecting guide. Either way, nothing collectible ends up in a landfill.

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.