# Is "Lost Souls" by Poppy Z. Brite a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite (Delacorte Press / Abyss, New York, 1992) 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. US Delacorte Press, New York, 1992 is the unambiguous true first — there is no competing same-year UK edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- 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
- Publisher imprint reads Delacorte Press / Abyss, New York
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Poppy Z. Brite |
| Publisher | Delacorte Press / Abyss, New York |
| Year | 1992 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printing is the Delacorte Press (New York) 1992 hardcover, 359 pages, ISBN 0-385-30875-2, and is identified by the complete number… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## 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.

## Is this the true first?
US Delacorte Press, New York, 1992 is the unambiguous true first — there is no competing same-year UK edition. The census note that 'UK Penguin followed' is directionally correct but should be stated precisely: 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.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Lost Souls* by Poppy Z. Brite a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/lost-souls
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.