# Is "The Bachman Books: Four Early Novels" by Stephen King (as Richard Bachman) a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Bachman Books: Four Early Novels by Stephen King (as Richard Bachman) (New American Library, New York, 1985) is identified by: New American Library, New York, October 1985. US precedence: NAL New York, October 1985, issued in two simultaneous states — the NAL hardcover and a Plume large-format trade paperback (also stating a First (Omnibus) Printing of October 1985 with a full number line).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- New American Library, New York, October 1985
- The first printing carries the copyright-page statement 'First (Omnibus) Printing, October, 1985' together with a complete number line in which 1 is present
- NOTE a conflict in the record: dealers report the line variously as ascending '1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9' and as a full descending line ending in 1, and one collector source renders the statement as 'First (Omnibus) Edition' rather than 'Printing' — the operative test is that the omnibus statement is present and the number line retains 1
- NAL gutter codes are also present (Q08 recorded on a first printing) and can corroborate
- The hardcover is in dust jacket with the price present at the front flap; spine lettering on the trade hardcover is yellow
- The omnibus collects Rage, The Long Walk, Roadwork and The Running Man — the first hardcover appearance of all four — and opens with King's essay 'Why I Was Bachman.' The hardcover run was small beside the simultaneous trade paperback, and first-printing hardcovers are hard to find in any condition
- Publisher imprint reads New American Library, New York

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Stephen King (as Richard Bachman) |
| Publisher | New American Library, New York |
| Year | 1985 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | New American Library, New York, October 1985 |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
New American Library, New York, October 1985. The first printing carries the copyright-page statement 'First (Omnibus) Printing, October, 1985' together with a complete number line in which 1 is present. NOTE a conflict in the record: dealers report the line variously as ascending '1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9' and as a full descending line ending in 1, and one collector source renders the statement as 'First (Omnibus) Edition' rather than 'Printing' — the operative test is that the omnibus statement is present and the number line retains 1. NAL gutter codes are also present (Q08 recorded on a first printing) and can corroborate. The hardcover is in dust jacket with the price present at the front flap; spine lettering on the trade hardcover is yellow. The omnibus collects Rage, The Long Walk, Roadwork and The Running Man — the first hardcover appearance of all four — and opens with King's essay 'Why I Was Bachman.' The hardcover run was small beside the simultaneous trade paperback, and first-printing hardcovers are hard to find in any condition.

## Is this the true first?
US precedence: NAL New York, October 1985, issued in two simultaneous states — the NAL hardcover and a Plume large-format trade paperback (also stating a First (Omnibus) Printing of October 1985 with a full number line). Both are first-printing states of the true first edition, but the hardcover is by far the scarcer and is the collected state; the Plume trade paperback was issued in a much larger quantity. The UK edition followed in 1986 from New English Library under the variant title The Bachman Books: Four Novels by Stephen King, reportedly in a very small run — it is a collected book in its own right but does not precede. The four constituent novels had appeared earlier as individual paperback originals (NAL/Signet in the US; NEL in the UK, Roadwork in 1980 and the others in 1983); those are the first appearances of the individual texts, and this omnibus is the first appearance only of the 'Why I Was Bachman' essay and of the four novels in hardcover.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
A book-club edition was issued and is the commonest trap. Tells: gold/gilt spine lettering in place of the trade hardcover's yellow; a blind stamp (small embossed square) on the rear board; no price at the front jacket flap; and in some copies a 'Book Club Edition' or 'First Book Club Edition' designation on the flap. Book-club copies are also lighter and printed on thinner bulk. A price-clipped trade jacket can imitate the absent-price tell, so check the spine lettering and rear-board blind stamp before accepting a clipped copy as a trade first. The Plume trade paperback, though a first-printing state, is not the hardcover and should never be catalogued as one.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Bachman Books: Four Early Novels* by Stephen King (as Richard Bachman) a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-bachman-books-four-early-novels
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.