Is My Gwendy's Button Box a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The first edition is the Cemetery Dance trade hardcover published 16 May 2017 (ISBN 978-1-58767-610-9, approx
• 171 pp.), bound in blue cloth boards with gold debossed titling on the front board and spine, with coloured head and tail bands, a full-colour dust jacket, and interior illustrations by Keith Minnion
• The first printing is identified by 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page with no later-printing designation added; the jacket is priced at the flap
• Cemetery Dance went back to press before publication and a second printing shipped in June 2017, with third and fourth printings following from the same setting, so a copy must be checked at the copyright page rather than by jacket or binding, which are unchanged

How Cemetery Dance Publications, Maryland marked a first edition

• Limited states identified by a signature/limitation sheet near the front, e.g. 'This is one of 1000 signed Limited copies'
• Traycased LETTERED editions run either 26 (A–Z) or 52 (AA–ZZ) signed copies; there are NO second printings of lettered editions

Full Cemetery Dance Publications, Maryland 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. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
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?

The US Cemetery Dance hardcover of 16 May 2017 is the true first; the UK Hodder & Stoughton issue of the same year went on sale in June 2017 and therefore follows. Correcting the census note: Cemetery Dance did not publish signed/limited states at first publication — the trade hardcover was the only Cemetery Dance issue, and the slipcase sometimes seen with it was an aftermarket accessory, not a published state. The oversize slipcased Gift Edition limited to 600 copies, with seven tipped-in colour plates by Vincent Sammy, is from Short, Scary Tales Publications (SST) in the UK and is a 'first edition thus', not a first edition.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No traditional book-club edition exists. The variant to know is the June 2017 Nocturnal Reader's Box subscription issue: it is the Cemetery Dance first edition, first printing in an exclusive alternate dust jacket by Justin Wisniewski printed only for that box, and dealers correctly catalogue it as a first edition with the Nocturnal Reader's Box jacket — a jacket swap, not a club reprint. Later mass-market and UK paperback issues are reprints.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Gwendy's Button Box a first edition?

A first edition of Gwendy's Button Box by Stephen King & Richard Chizmar (Cemetery Dance Publications, Maryland) is identified by: The first edition is the Cemetery Dance trade hardcover published 16 May 2017 (ISBN 978-1-58767-610-9, approx.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. The US Cemetery Dance hardcover of 16 May 2017 is the true first; the UK Hodder & Stoughton issue of the same year went on sale in June 2017 and therefore follows.

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

No traditional book-club edition exists. The variant to know is the June 2017 Nocturnal Reader's Box subscription issue: it is the Cemetery Dance first edition, first printing in an exclusive alternate dust jacket by Justin Wisniewski printed only for that box, and dealers correctly catalogue it as a first edition with the Nocturnal Reader's Box jacket — a jacket swap, not a club reprint. Later mass-market and UK paperback issues are reprints.

I have a first edition of Gwendy's Button Box — 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.