Is My Copy of The Cipher a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The true first is a mass-market PAPERBACK ORIGINAL — Dell/Abyss, New York, February 1991, ISBN 0-440-20782-7, 356 pages, with cover art by Marshall Arisman
• There is no contemporaneous hardcover of any kind, so any hardcover copy is by definition a later edition
• First printing is identified by the complete descending number line 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 on the copyright page; a line no longer reaching 1 indicates a later printing
• This was the author's first book and the inaugural title of Dell's Abyss line, which won the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel (shared with Melanie Tem's Prodigal) and a Locus Award
• Advance/uncorrected proof copies of Abyss titles including this one are documented in the trade (Ken Lopez Bookseller, ABAA) and are a separate state from the published paperback — do not conflate a proof with a first printing

How Dell / Abyss, New York marked a first edition

• Dell First Editions (from 1953, prefix 'A###' / 'First Edition' line) are paperback ORIGINALS — the paperback IS the first edition; look for the 'Dell First Edition' designation.

Full Dell / Abyss, New York 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?

US Dell/Abyss, New York, February 1991 paperback original is the true first; there is no UK-vs-US precedence question and no original-language issue. The collecting trap is format, not country: because the first edition is a disposable mass-market paperback, the handsome later hardcovers are frequently mistaken for firsts.P-041164

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition documented. There was no hardcover until 21st-century reissues, and the Meerkat Press reissue of 15 September 2020 (ISBN 978-1-946154-33-0) was a PAPERBACK, adding a new afterword by Maryse Meijer, and is a first thus only. The first hardcover of any kind is the Centipede Press (Lakewood, CO) 2022 edition, ISBN 978-1-61347-295-8 — a limited, signed, numbered issue of 500 copies bound in black Brillianta cloth, 292 pages, with jacket, frontispiece and six interior illustrations by Martin Ander; it is a first hardcover edition, not a first edition. A 1996 Dell reprint of the paperback also exists.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Cipher a first edition?

A first edition of The Cipher by Kathe Koja (Dell / Abyss, New York) is identified by: The true first is a mass-market PAPERBACK ORIGINAL — Dell/Abyss, New York, February 1991, ISBN 0-440-20782-7, 356 pages, with cover art by Marshall Arisman.

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). US Dell/Abyss, New York, February 1991 paperback original is the true first; there is no UK-vs-US precedence question and no original-language issue.

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

No book-club edition documented. There was no hardcover until 21st-century reissues, and the Meerkat Press reissue of 15 September 2020 (ISBN 978-1-946154-33-0) was a PAPERBACK, adding a new afterword by Maryse Meijer, and is a first thus only.

I have a first edition of The Cipher — 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.