# Is "Infinite Jest" by David Foster Wallace a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace (Little, Brown and Company, 1996) is identified by: First printing: the copyright page states 'First Edition' and carries the full number line 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ending in 1. The US Little, Brown (Boston) 1996 first printing is the true first; the UK Abacus edition (1997) follows (US precedes UK).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing: the copyright page states 'First Edition' and carries the full number line 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ending in 1
- Bound in quarter blue cloth over blue paper-covered boards with the spine stamped in silver
- The first-issue dust jacket (Steve Snider's blue sky-and-clouds design) is a priced, unclipped jacket with the printed price present at the front flap; on the rear panel the last of the review blurbs misspells William Vollmann as 'Vollman' — a noted feature of the first-edition jacket
- Later printings drop the '1' from the number line and omit the 'First Edition' statement
- Publisher imprint reads Little, Brown and Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | David Foster Wallace |
| Publisher | Little, Brown and Company |
| Year | 1996 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printing: the copyright page states 'First Edition' and carries the full number line 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ending in 1 |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First printing: the copyright page states 'First Edition' and carries the full number line 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ending in 1. Bound in quarter blue cloth over blue paper-covered boards with the spine stamped in silver. The first-issue dust jacket (Steve Snider's blue sky-and-clouds design) is a priced, unclipped jacket with the printed price present at the front flap; on the rear panel the last of the review blurbs misspells William Vollmann as 'Vollman' — a noted feature of the first-edition jacket. Later printings drop the '1' from the number line and omit the 'First Edition' statement.

## Is this the true first?
The US Little, Brown (Boston) 1996 first printing is the true first; the UK Abacus edition (1997) follows (US precedes UK). The advance state is the 'Special Galleys' uncorrected proof, issued in pictorial wrappers that reproduce the published sky-and-clouds cover with 'Special Galleys Signed by the Author' printed at the foot; roughly 1,000 were signed by Wallace (often with a small smiley-face) and it is separately collected — it is NOT a 'green' proof. Wallace signatures are heavily forged, so provenance matters on any signed copy.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Printing state is told by the number line: a line no longer ending in '1' (and the absence of the stated 'First Edition') indicates a later printing. The jacket art is unchanged across printings, so it does not distinguish states — use the copyright page. Any later book-club or reprint issue will be unpriced and will lack the full number line.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Infinite Jest* by David Foster Wallace a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/infinite-jest
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.