# Is "Pawn of Prophecy" by David Eddings a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings (Del Rey / Ballantine Books, 1982) is identified by: The true first is the Del Rey/Ballantine mass-market paperback original, New York, April 1982, Ballantine catalogue number 29637 (ISBN 0-345-29637-0). Census claim confirmed but its framing needs correction.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first is the Del Rey/Ballantine mass-market paperback original, New York, April 1982, Ballantine catalogue number 29637 (ISBN 0-345-29637-0)
- There was no US hardcover: the book was issued only in wraps
- Per Biblio's Ballantine publisher guide, Ballantine/Del Rey paperback firsts of this period carry "First Edition (month, year)" or "First Printing (month, year)" on the copyright page together with a number line that must still retain the 1 — judge by the number line, not by the statement alone, since later printings can carry the original edition line forward
- Later Del Rey reissues under different Ballantine numbers/ISBNs (0-345-30997-9, 0-345-33551-1) are not the first printing; dealers do list some of these as "firsts," which is a known mis-listing
- Sources consulted do not document a first-state text error or variant wrapper for this title
- Publisher imprint reads Del Rey / Ballantine Books
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | David Eddings |
| Publisher | Del Rey / Ballantine Books |
| Year | 1982 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first is the Del Rey/Ballantine mass-market paperback original, New York, April 1982, Ballantine catalogue number 29637 (ISBN… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
The true first is the Del Rey/Ballantine mass-market paperback original, New York, April 1982, Ballantine catalogue number 29637 (ISBN 0-345-29637-0). There was no US hardcover: the book was issued only in wraps. Per Biblio's Ballantine publisher guide, Ballantine/Del Rey paperback firsts of this period carry "First Edition (month, year)" or "First Printing (month, year)" on the copyright page together with a number line that must still retain the 1 — judge by the number line, not by the statement alone, since later printings can carry the original edition line forward. Later Del Rey reissues under different Ballantine numbers/ISBNs (0-345-30997-9, 0-345-33551-1) are not the first printing; dealers do list some of these as "firsts," which is a known mis-listing. Sources consulted do not document a first-state text error or variant wrapper for this title.

## Is this the true first?
Census claim confirmed but its framing needs correction. The US paperback original precedes everything, and the claim that "hardcover editions are later reprints" is right for the wrong reason: there was no UK hardcover contemporary with the first at all. The UK first was a Corgi (London) paperback, and the LoC-derived catalogue record for the Corgi printing reads "Originally published: New York : Ballantine, 1982," independently fixing US precedence. The Transworld hardcover (ISBN 0-593-02616-0) is a 1992 book, not an early UK hardcover. Only the Del Rey pbo is collected as the first edition.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The alt.fan.eddings FAQ records that the only hardcover of the Belgariad available before 1995 was a two-volume Science Fiction Book Club omnibus — so any pre-1995 Belgariad hardcover is a club omnibus, not a first edition. The Easton Press signed collector's edition (1997) is a later "first thus."

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Pawn of Prophecy* by David Eddings a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/pawn-of-prophecy
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.