Is My Copy of 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 US 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; 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.P-043189

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; 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.

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. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.