Is My Outlander a First Edition?

The points of issue

• US first edition published by Delacorte Press, New York, June 1991
• The true first printing has the complete number line 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 on the copyright page and the original printed price on the dust-jacket front flap
• Jacket art by Kinuko Y. Craft
• Original first-printing run was roughly 25,000 copies
• Many market copies are later printings with a shortened number line

How Delacorte Press 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 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 UK 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?

The UK edition was retitled Cross Stitch (Century, 1991) and is a genuinely separate, far scarcer printing of about 2,000 copies; collectors treat the US Outlander first and the UK Cross Stitch first as parallel firsts under different titles, neither a state of the other. Both appeared in 1991; the US publisher changed the title from Gabaldon's original Cross Stitch because it sounded like a craft project.P-006495

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The trap here is later Delacorte printings, not a book-club issue. Verify the FULL number line ending in 1, plus the original printed price on the jacket flap; later trade printings break the line (starting at 2 or higher) and price-clipped or later jackets lose the price point.P-006496

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Outlander a first edition?

A first edition of Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (Delacorte Press) is identified by: US first edition published by Delacorte Press, New York, June 1991.

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). The UK edition was retitled Cross Stitch (Century, 1991) and is a genuinely separate, far scarcer printing of about 2,000 copies; collectors treat the US Outlander first and the UK Cross Stitch first as parallel firsts under different titles, neither a state of the other.

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

The trap here is later Delacorte printings, not a book-club issue. Verify the FULL number line ending in 1, plus the original printed price on the jacket flap; later trade printings break the line (starting at 2 or higher) and price-clipped or later jackets lose the price point.

I have a first edition of Outlander — 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.