# Is "The Drawing of the Dark" by Tim Powers a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Drawing of the Dark by Tim Powers (Ballantine / Del Rey, 1979) is identified by: The first edition is the Del Rey/Ballantine mass-market paperback original (first printing June 1979), cover art by Doug Beekman. The 1979 Del Rey/Ballantine paperback is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The first edition is the Del Rey/Ballantine mass-market paperback original (first printing June 1979), cover art by Doug Beekman
- It is a paperback original; the first hardcover came later from a specialty press
- Publisher imprint reads Ballantine / Del Rey
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Tim Powers |
| Publisher | Ballantine / Del Rey |
| Year | 1979 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The first edition is the Del Rey/Ballantine mass-market paperback original (first printing June 1979), cover art by Doug Beekman |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The first edition is the Del Rey/Ballantine mass-market paperback original (first printing June 1979), cover art by Doug Beekman. It is a paperback original; the first hardcover came later from a specialty press.

## Is this the true first?
The 1979 Del Rey/Ballantine paperback is the true first. Later signed specialty-press hardcovers are 'first thus' issues, not the first edition.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition is the issue. The trap is later specialty-press hardcovers marketed as 'firsts'; verify the 1979 Ballantine/Del Rey paperback original.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Drawing of the Dark* by Tim Powers a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-drawing-of-the-dark
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.