Is My The Fog a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The first-printing tell is the New English Library copyright-page convention: NEL states "First published by New English Library in [year]" or "First published in Great Britain [year]" on firsts, and the year in that notice should match the copyright year with no later-impression notice added
• The hardcover is bound in black cloth-covered boards with gilt lettering to the spine, issued in a colour pictorial dust jacket with the price present at the front flap (unclipped copies retain the "net in UK only" line)
• The hardcover print run was small and aimed largely at the lending-library market, so ex-library copies with stamps, pockets and reinforced jackets are disproportionately common; the NEL paperback of the same year is far commoner and is not the collected first
• One caveat the sources consulted do not settle: NEL issued hardcover and paperback in 1975 and the exact precedence between the two formats is not documented — the trade uniformly treats the hardcover as the first edition

How New English Library, London marked a first edition

• Modern era (number line): later Hodder/Sceptre titles carry a printer's-key number line (lowest digit = printing; '1' present = first); number lines are a general post-~1970 trade practice — the exact year Hodder adopted…
• First printing = era-appropriate statement present AND no later-impression/printing notation; for pre-1940s books rely on points/bibliography, not the copyright page

Full New English Library, London 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. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
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 census claim is confirmed: New English Library, London, 1975 is the true first of Herbert's second novel, and no US edition carries precedence. The first American edition was a Signet (New American Library) mass-market paperback, catalogue number W6708; sources consulted disagree on its year (variously given as 1975, 1976 and 1977), but it is a reprint either way and only the NEL hardcover is collected as the first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club hardcover is documented for this title. The reprint traps are the later NEL, Hodder & Stoughton, Pan and Macmillan issues — including the 1988 NEL reissue — plus the much later Centipede Press illustrated edition, all of which are "first thus" rather than firsts. Because the 1975 hardcover run was directed at lending libraries, library-withdrawn copies are frequently offered as firsts; the library markings do not affect the edition but do not make a jacketed trade copy either.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Fog a first edition?

A first edition of The Fog by James Herbert (New English Library, London) is identified by: The first-printing tell is the New English Library copyright-page convention: NEL states "First published by New English Library in [year]" or "First published in Great Britain [year]" on firsts, and the year in that notice should match the copyright year with no later-impression notice added.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. The census claim is confirmed: New English Library, London, 1975 is the true first of Herbert's second novel, and no US edition carries precedence.

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

No book-club hardcover is documented for this title. The reprint traps are the later NEL, Hodder & Stoughton, Pan and Macmillan issues — including the 1988 NEL reissue — plus the much later Centipede Press illustrated edition, all of which are "first thus" rather than firsts. Because the 1975 hardcover run was directed at lending libraries, library-withdrawn copies are frequently offered as firsts; the library markings do not affect the edition but do not make a jacketed trade copy either.

I have a first edition of The Fog — 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.