Is My Deception Point a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Pocket Books, New York, 2001, hardcover in jacket, ISBN 0-671-02737-9 / 978-0-671-02737-7, approx
• 6 the printed price x 9 the printed price in
• The first printing is identified by a complete number line on the copyright page running down to 1; dealers uniformly describe the true first as having the 'complete number line on copyright page', and any Pocket line that has lost the 1 is a later 2001 printing of the same edition
• The jacket should be the priced jacket with the price present at the front flap and unclipped
• Because the novel sold modestly before The Da Vinci Code made Brown's backlist valuable, remainder marks on the bottom edge are commonly encountered on genuine first printings and have no bearing on the printing identification

How Pocket Books marked a first edition

• First printing was typically stated on the copyright page in the early and mid era; later printings add a printing line (2nd printing, and so on), so the absence of any later-printing statement indicates a first.
• Modern Pocket Books uses a number line; a complete line ending in 1 indicates a first printing.

Full Pocket Books 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 US 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?

Census claim confirmed. The Pocket Books US hardcover of 2001 is the true first in any language and there is no competing 2001 UK edition: Transworld/Corgi did not publish Deception Point in Britain until 2004 (a paperback, ISBN 0-552-15176-9), issuing the backlist only after The Da Vinci Code broke in 2003, so every UK issue is a reprint. This is Brown's third novel and completes the pre-fame quartet with Digital Fortress, Angels & Demons and Deception Point's siblings.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club printing of the Pocket 2001 hardcover is documented in the dealer descriptions and auction records consulted, and none should be asserted without a copy in hand. The documented traps are all publisher reissues carrying their own later ISBNs and printing statements: the Pocket paperback of 2002, the Atria hardcover reissue of 2003 (frequently mis-catalogued as a first because it is a hardcover with a 2001 copyright line), and the later Atria/Pocket mass-market printings such as ISBN 1-4165-2488-5 and 1-4165-2480-0. The separation in every case is the number line and the ISBN, not the jacket art.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Deception Point a first edition?

A first edition of Deception Point by Dan Brown (Pocket Books) is identified by: Pocket Books, New York, 2001, hardcover in jacket, ISBN 0-671-02737-9 / 978-0-671-02737-7, approx.

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). Census claim confirmed.

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

No book-club printing of the Pocket 2001 hardcover is documented in the dealer descriptions and auction records consulted, and none should be asserted without a copy in hand. The documented traps are all publisher reissues carrying their own later ISBNs and printing statements: the Pocket paperback of 2002, the Atria hardcover reissue of 2003 (frequently mis-catalogued as a first because it is a hardcover with a 2001 copyright line), and the later Atria/Pocket mass-market printings such as ISBN

I have a first edition of Deception Point — 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.