# Is "Nine Princes in Amber" by Roger Zelazny a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny (Doubleday, 1970) is identified by: Doubleday & Company, Garden City, New York, 1970, first edition. US Doubleday (Garden City) first hardcover, 1970; cornerstone of the Chronicles of Amber and scarce owing to the accidental pulping of much of the print run.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Doubleday & Company, Garden City, New York, 1970, first edition
- Bound in dark cobalt-blue cloth with silver lettering to the spine; copies commonly show the light glue-bleed staining along the gutter margins typical of Doubleday printings of this period
- The first-issue dust jacket carries the printed price on the front flap (the price should be present, not clipped, on an unrestored jacket)
- Much of the original print run was inadvertently destroyed when a company order to pulp remaining stock of Zelazny's earlier Creatures of Light and Darkness was misapplied, making the true first scarce
- Publisher imprint reads Doubleday
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Roger Zelazny |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
| Year | 1970 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Doubleday & Company, Garden City, New York, 1970, first edition |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Doubleday & Company, Garden City, New York, 1970, first edition. Bound in dark cobalt-blue cloth with silver lettering to the spine; copies commonly show the light glue-bleed staining along the gutter margins typical of Doubleday printings of this period. The first-issue dust jacket carries the printed price on the front flap (the price should be present, not clipped, on an unrestored jacket). Much of the original print run was inadvertently destroyed when a company order to pulp remaining stock of Zelazny's earlier Creatures of Light and Darkness was misapplied, making the true first scarce.

## Is this the true first?
US Doubleday (Garden City) first hardcover, 1970; cornerstone of the Chronicles of Amber and scarce owing to the accidental pulping of much of the print run.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Book-club editions and later printings reprint the text but are not the first edition and are far less collectible. The Literary Guild, Mystery Guild, and Doubleday Book Club run through this house; their club editions carry a five-digit code block on the jacket and a rear-board blind stamp — not the same as the trade first. Use the points above to be certain — see book-club edition vs. first edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Nine Princes in Amber* by Roger Zelazny a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/nine-princes-in-amber
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.