Is My Copy of Lost Souls a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First printing is the Delacorte Press (New York) 1992 hardcover, 359 pages, ISBN 0-385-30875-2, and is identified by the complete number line running down to 1 on the copyright page
• The binding is distinctive and serves as a corroborating check: quarter black cloth over red boards (commonly described by dealers as a black spine with red boards)
• The book should be in its priced jacket with the price present at the front flap — an unclipped flap is the wanted state
• Catalog control numbers for cross-checking a suspect copy: LCCN 92000506, OCLC 25869401
• This was the author's first novel and the first hardcover published under Dell's Abyss imprint

How Delacorte Press / Abyss, New York marked a first edition

• "First printing" or "First Edition" stated on the copyright page, frequently paired with a number line ending in 1
• Vonnegut-era Delacorte / Seymour Lawrence books: look for an explicit "First printing" statement on the copyright page (e.g. Slaughterhouse-Five is a stated first printing)

Full Delacorte Press / Abyss, 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 Delacorte Press, New York, 1992 is the unambiguous true first — there is no competing same-year UK edition. UK Penguin followed: the Penguin UK appearance was a 1994 paperback (ISBN 0-14-017392-7), and a Dell US mass-market paperback intervened in 1993. Neither is a first edition, and neither competes with the Delacorte hardcover for precedence.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition documented in the sources consulted for this title. Reprint tells: an incomplete number line (one not reaching 1) marks a later printing; the 1993 Dell US mass-market and the 1994 Penguin UK paperback are reprints, not firsts, as are the later Penguin reissues (e.g. ISBN 978-0-14-104893-2). Any softcover is by definition not the first edition of this title.P-041158

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Lost Souls a first edition?

A first edition of Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite (Delacorte Press / Abyss, New York) is identified by: First printing is the Delacorte Press (New York) 1992 hardcover, 359 pages, ISBN 0-385-30875-2, and is identified by the complete number line running down to 1 on the copyright page.

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 Delacorte Press, New York, 1992 is the unambiguous true first — there is no competing same-year UK edition.

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

No book-club edition documented in the sources consulted for this title. Reprint tells: an incomplete number line (one not reaching 1) marks a later printing; the 1993 Dell US mass-market and the 1994 Penguin UK paperback are reprints, not firsts, as are the later Penguin reissues (e.g. ISBN 978-0-14-104893-2). Any softcover is by definition not the first edition of this title.

I have a first edition of Lost Souls — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.