# Is "Hell House" by Richard Matheson a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Hell House by Richard Matheson (The Viking Press, New York, 1971) is identified by: The first-printing copyright page reads "First published in 1971 by The Viking Press, Inc." with no mention of any subsequent printing; that absence is the point dealers rely on, as later Viking printings add a printing statement. The US Viking Press hardcover of 1971 is the true first and the only collected hardcover first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The first-printing copyright page reads "First published in 1971 by The Viking Press, Inc." with no mention of any subsequent printing; that absence is the point dealers rely on, as later Viking printings add a printing statement
- The binding is black paper-covered boards quarter/half-bound in navy blue cloth, the spine lettered in silver and blue-violet, with a violet top edge
- 279 pp., octavo (approximately 8.3 x 5.9 inches)
- SBN 670-36585-8
- The dust jacket is illustrated in grey and blue with black lettering to the front panel and spine, and should be present unclipped with the price at the flap
- Publisher imprint reads The Viking Press, New York
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Richard Matheson |
| Publisher | The Viking Press, New York |
| Year | 1971 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The first-printing copyright page reads "First published in 1971 by The Viking Press, Inc." with no mention of any subsequent printing… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The first-printing copyright page reads "First published in 1971 by The Viking Press, Inc." with no mention of any subsequent printing; that absence is the point dealers rely on, as later Viking printings add a printing statement. The binding is black paper-covered boards quarter/half-bound in navy blue cloth, the spine lettered in silver and blue-violet, with a violet top edge. 279 pp., octavo (approximately 8.3 x 5.9 inches); SBN 670-36585-8. The dust jacket is illustrated in grey and blue with black lettering to the front panel and spine, and should be present unclipped with the price at the flap.

## Is this the true first?
The US Viking Press hardcover of 1971 is the true first and the only collected hardcover first. No contemporary British hardcover is recorded in the sources consulted — the British edition was a Corgi paperback (London, 1973, 248 pp. plus advertisements), issued around the time of the film The Legend of Hell House — so the census claim that the Viking hardcover is the sole collected state is confirmed.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No specific book-club issue point is documented in the sources consulted for this title. The distinguishing check between a first and a later printing is the copyright page alone: a second printing is catalogued as such by dealers but shares the same binding (dark blue cloth over black paper boards, silver and blue spine lettering) and the same grey-and-blue jacket, so binding and jacket cannot separate them.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Hell House* by Richard Matheson a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/hell-house
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.