# Is "The Folk of the Fringe" by Orson Scott Card a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Folk of the Fringe by Orson Scott Card (Phantasia Press, 1989) is identified by: Story collection, octavo, 243 pages. US Phantasia Press hardcover (1989) is the true first; the 475-copy signed and numbered slipcased issue and the 26 lettered copies are deluxe states of that same first printing.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Story collection, octavo, 243 pages
- Single Phantasia Press print run of 3,475 copies: 3,000 trade copies, 475 signed and numbered copies issued in a matching cloth slipcase, and 26 lettered copies
- The signed/numbered and lettered copies carry Card's signature on the limitation page
- Bound in red cloth boards; color pictorial jacket art by Carl Lundgren, with interior illustrations and endpapers by Glen R. Bellamy
- On a first the jacket should retain its printed price
- Publisher imprint reads Phantasia Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Orson Scott Card |
| Publisher | Phantasia Press |
| Year | 1989 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Story collection, octavo, 243 pages |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Story collection, octavo, 243 pages. Single Phantasia Press print run of 3,475 copies: 3,000 trade copies, 475 signed and numbered copies issued in a matching cloth slipcase, and 26 lettered copies. The signed/numbered and lettered copies carry Card's signature on the limitation page. Bound in red cloth boards; color pictorial jacket art by Carl Lundgren, with interior illustrations and endpapers by Glen R. Bellamy. On a first the jacket should retain its printed price.

## Is this the true first?
US Phantasia Press hardcover (1989) is the true first; the 475-copy signed and numbered slipcased issue and the 26 lettered copies are deluxe states of that same first printing. The Tor trade edition followed in 1990.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
None. The later Tor edition is a separate trade publication, not a book-club printing.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Folk of the Fringe* by Orson Scott Card a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-folk-of-the-fringe
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.