Is My 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.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition documented. The census claim of 'no hardcover until the printed pricet-century reissues' is correct in direction but imprecise and is CORRECTED here: 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. The census claim of 'no hardcover until the printed pricet-century reissues' is correct in direction but imprecise and is CORRECTED here: 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 B

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 — 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.