# Is "Dispatch" by Bentley Little a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Dispatch by Bentley Little (Signet, 2005) is identified by: Signet mass-market paperback original, first printing October 4, 2005 (ISBN 0-451-21677-6, ISBN-13 978-0-451-21677-9). US paperback original; there was no prior trade edition, so the Signet mass-market paperback is the true first edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Signet mass-market paperback original, first printing October 4, 2005 (ISBN 0-451-21677-6, ISBN-13 978-0-451-21677-9)
- Full descending number line ending in 1 on the copyright page identifies the first printing; the printed cover price appears on the top front cover
- Publisher imprint reads Signet
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Bentley Little |
| Publisher | Signet |
| Year | 2005 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Signet mass-market paperback original, first printing October 4, 2005 (ISBN… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Signet mass-market paperback original, first printing October 4, 2005 (ISBN 0-451-21677-6, ISBN-13 978-0-451-21677-9). Full descending number line ending in 1 on the copyright page identifies the first printing; the printed cover price appears on the top front cover.

## Is this the true first?
US paperback original; there was no prior trade edition, so the Signet mass-market paperback is the true first edition.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Two later hardcover states exist and are not the true first: a large-print / library hardcover (ISBN 0-7394-6047-4) and a Cemetery Dance Publications signed limited-edition hardcover published September 18, 2017 (ISBN 1-58767-470-X). Both postdate the 2005 Signet paperback.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Dispatch* by Bentley Little a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/dispatch
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.