Is My She's Come Undone a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The first printing is identified by the statement "First Pocket Books hardcover printing August 1992" on the copyright page together with a complete number line reading 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1; the 1 must be present
• Bound in mauve paper-covered boards with an off-white cloth spine
• Issued in a priced jacket — the price should be present and unclipped at the front flap
• The hardcover first printing was small: this was an unheralded debut published more than four years before the book-club selection that made it a bestseller, so genuine first printings are markedly scarcer than the later printings and paperbacks that dominate the market
• Sources disagree on the page count (references consulted give both 405 and 368 pp.), so page count is not a usable point here

How Pocket Books marked a first edition

• First printing was typically stated on the copyright page in the early and mid era; later printings add a printing line (2nd printing, and so on), so the absence of any later-printing statement indicates a first.
• Modern Pocket Books uses a number line; a complete line ending in 1 indicates a first printing.

Full Pocket Books 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 Pocket Books (New York) hardcover of August 1992 is the true first, and the census attribution is correct; Pocket Books is a Simon & Schuster imprint, which is why some records credit Simon & Schuster as publisher for the same book. No UK or foreign edition precedes it — Lamb is American and this was a US debut. The trap here is format rather than country: the title is overwhelmingly encountered as a trade paperback, and only the 1992 Pocket hardcover is the first edition. One general-reference summary describes the novel as appearing in hardcover and paperback, but the points references consulted treat the August 1992 hardcover as the first, and no evidence of a simultaneous or preceding paperback issue was found. Any paperback, including the earliest Pocket trade paperback, is a later issue.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The decisive later-issue tell is Oprah's Book Club branding. The novel was chosen as the club's fourth selection in December 1996 — over four years after publication — so any copy carrying the Oprah's Book Club seal or logo on the jacket, board, or cover, including the widely circulated Pocket paperback (ISBN 9780671021009), is by definition a post-1996 reprint and cannot be a 1992 first printing. This single tell disposes of most copies offered as firsts. Standard club tells otherwise apply: a blind stamp or dot impressed into the rear board near the spine, absence of a flap price, and lighter bulk than the trade issue override any printing statement or number line reproduced on the copyright page.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of She's Come Undone a first edition?

A first edition of She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb (Pocket Books) is identified by: The first printing is identified by the statement "First Pocket Books hardcover printing August 1992" on the copyright page together with a complete number line reading 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1; the 1 must be present.

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 Pocket Books (New York) hardcover of August 1992 is the true first, and the census attribution is correct; Pocket Books is a Simon & Schuster imprint, which is why some records credit Simon & Schuster as publisher for the same book.

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

The decisive later-issue tell is Oprah's Book Club branding. The novel was chosen as the club's fourth selection in December 1996 — over four years after publication — so any copy carrying the Oprah's Book Club seal or logo on the jacket, board, or cover, including the widely circulated Pocket paperback (ISBN 9780671021009), is by definition a post-1996 reprint and cannot be a 1992 first printing. This single tell disposes of most copies offered as firsts. Standard club tells otherwise apply: a

I have a first edition of She's Come Undone — 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.