Is My Legion a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Simon and Schuster, New York, 1983
• The first printing is identified by a FULL number line on the copyright page — the row must run down to 1 ('10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1')
• Dealers confirm the discriminator from both directions: Dearly Departed Books catalogues the first as 'First printing with the full number line present', while Scene of the Crime and Sellsbooks catalogue second printings as 'Second Printing per Number Line 2-9'
• Quill & Brush (qbbooks) documents that Simon & Schuster adopted a number row in the early 1970s, so no separate 'First Edition' wording is required or expected
• Binding: quarter bound in black cloth with red boards
• Jacket should be present and unclipped with the price present at the front flap

How Simon and Schuster, New York marked a first edition

• ERA 3 — Number-line introduction (mid-1973–1980): S&S adopted a copyright-page number line. Read the lowest number present: a line whose lowest digit is 1 is a first printing (e.g. '1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10' or the descendin…
• ERA 4 — The signature non-sequential line (1981–present): S&S's hallmark line is the scrambled sequence '1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2'. The rule is presence-of-lowest-number, NOT last-digit: if 1 is present (as the lowest number…

Full Simon and Schuster, New York 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?

US first: Simon and Schuster, New York, published August 1983 — the sequel to The Exorcist. The census claim is confirmed. The UK first is William Collins Sons, London, also 1983 (black cloth boards, silver lettering to the spine, 250 pp. including the epilogue, ISBN 0002227355); it is collected in its own right but does not precede the US issue. Because both editions are dated 1983, precedence turns on the imprint, not the date — check the title page for Simon and Schuster versus Collins.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Book-club copies are common and are the principal trap: they carry the same Simon & Schuster imprint and 1983 date, and are catalogued as BCE/BOMC by dealers including BookMarx Bookstore, Neutral Balloon Books, and Bookshop Apocalypse. Because club copies can reproduce the trade copyright page, the number line alone is not decisive against a club copy — check the jacket, which on club copies carries no price at the flap and is commonly marked 'Book Club Edition' at the base of the front flap, plus the blind-stamped impression on the lower rear board and the lighter bulk and slightly smaller trim. One club copy is described in a black leatherette-textured board rather than the trade issue's black cloth and red boards.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Legion a first edition?

A first edition of Legion by William Peter Blatty (Simon and Schuster, New York) is identified by: Simon and Schuster, New York, 1983.

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). US first: Simon and Schuster, New York, published August 1983 — the sequel to The Exorcist.

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

Book-club copies are common and are the principal trap: they carry the same Simon & Schuster imprint and 1983 date, and are catalogued as BCE/BOMC by dealers including BookMarx Bookstore, Neutral Balloon Books, and Bookshop Apocalypse. Because club copies can reproduce the trade copyright page, the number line alone is not decisive against a club copy — check the jacket, which on club copies carries no price at the flap and is commonly marked 'Book Club Edition' at the base of the front flap, pl

I have a first edition of Legion — 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.