# Is "Necroscope" by Brian Lumley a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Necroscope by Brian Lumley (Grafton Books, London, 1986) is identified by: The true first is a mass-market paperback original — there is no hardcover first state, which is the single most important point on this title. The census claim is confirmed: Grafton Books, London, 1986 (June/July 1986) is the true first, and the US Tor edition of 1988 is a mass-market paperback (Bob Eggleton cover) that follows it — collected as the first American edition, not the first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first is a mass-market paperback original — there is no hardcover first state, which is the single most important point on this title
- Identify it by the Grafton Books (Collins) issue of 1986, ISBN 0-586-06665-9 (the 0-586- prefix is the Granada/Grafton paperback prefix), 512 pages, with wraparound cover art by George Underwood, confirmed on the author's own site
- Grafton's parent Collins put no first-edition statement on firsts, so the check is negative: the copyright page should show the 1986 first-published notice with no later-impression line or added printing numbers
- Because the first is a paperback, condition points are spine creasing, edge-roll and cover rub rather than jacket points
- Publisher imprint reads Grafton Books, London
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Brian Lumley |
| Publisher | Grafton Books, London |
| Year | 1986 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first is a mass-market paperback original — there is no hardcover first state, which is the single most important point on this… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The true first is a mass-market paperback original — there is no hardcover first state, which is the single most important point on this title. Identify it by the Grafton Books (Collins) issue of 1986, ISBN 0-586-06665-9 (the 0-586- prefix is the Granada/Grafton paperback prefix), 512 pages, with wraparound cover art by George Underwood, confirmed on the author's own site. Grafton's parent Collins put no first-edition statement on firsts, so the check is negative: the copyright page should show the 1986 first-published notice with no later-impression line or added printing numbers. Because the first is a paperback, condition points are spine creasing, edge-roll and cover rub rather than jacket points.

## Is this the true first?
The census claim is confirmed: Grafton Books, London, 1986 (June/July 1986) is the true first, and the US Tor edition of 1988 is a mass-market paperback (Bob Eggleton cover) that follows it — collected as the first American edition, not the first. The "first thus" trap is explicit and common: the first appearance of Necroscope in hardback is a Tor issue of 1994, which dealers list verbatim as "First Edition in Hardback." That phrase describes a first hardcover state of an eight-year-old text, not a first edition, and a hardback Necroscope can never be the true first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition is documented for the Grafton paperback in the sources consulted. The reprint and "first thus" field is instead crowded with later Tor, Hodder & Stoughton, HarperCollins/Voyager and Tom Doherty reissues, plus the 1994 Tor hardback described above; a hardcover copy of any date should be treated as a later state by default. Grafton's own later impressions are identified by added printing notation on the copyright page.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Necroscope* by Brian Lumley a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/necroscope
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.