Is My Skinwalkers a First Edition?

The points of issue

• New York: Harper & Row, 1986
• Copyright page carries the 'FIRST EDITION' statement with the publisher's number line
• Quarter red cloth over white paper boards, gilt spine lettering
• 216 pages; cover art by Peter Thorpe
• First-issue dust jacket is price-printed and unclipped
• This is the first of Hillerman's Navajo novels to bring Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee together, and the book that lifted him to bestseller status

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

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 US Harper & Row edition of 1986 is the true first. Pairing Leaphorn and Chee in one book for the first time, it marked Hillerman's commercial breakthrough; the UNM Hillerman Portal documents the first edition and the advance reading copy.P-031694

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Book-club copies lack the printed jacket price and the number line, and are typically blind-stamped on the rear board; later printings drop the first-edition statement.P-031695

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Skinwalkers a first edition?

A first edition of Skinwalkers by Tony Hillerman (Harper & Row) is identified by: New York: Harper & Row, 1986.

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 US Harper & Row edition of 1986 is the true first.

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

Book-club copies lack the printed jacket price and the number line, and are typically blind-stamped on the rear board; later printings drop the first-edition statement.

I have a first edition of Skinwalkers — 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.