Is My The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest a First Edition?

The points of issue

• For the first English edition (MacLehose Press, London, 2009, hardback): first printing is identified by a complete descending number line retaining the 1 on the copyright page, consistent with the graded MacLehose Millennium printings documented by independent AbeBooks dealers (second printing drops to '...3 2', third to '...4 3', and so on)
• Physical points corroborated by Second Story Books, which catalogues the copy verbatim as 'London, UK: MacLehose Press, 2009
• First UK Edition, First Printing
• Octavo, 602 pages' with a dark evergreen spine bearing white and silver gilt lettering; translation credited to Reg Keeland, the pseudonym of Steven T. Murray
• Rare Book Cellar independently catalogues the London MacLehose 2009 issue as first edition, first printing, hardcover, 8vo
• Issued in a priced jacket with the price present at the flap

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

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 UK 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 upheld. Norstedts, Stockholm, 2007 (Luftslottet som sprängdes) is the original-language true first, published posthumously. In English, the UK MacLehose Press/Quercus hardback of October 2009 precedes the US Alfred A. Knopf edition, published 25 May 2010 — a gap of roughly seven months, wider and less contestable than on the sibling volume. Christopher MacLehose held the global English-language rights through MacLehose Press, an imprint of Quercus, and Knopf acquired the US rights. Both the Swedish original and the UK MacLehose first English are collected and should be named as distinct; the Knopf 2010 is the first American edition, not the true first. Third volume of the Millennium trilogy.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted. The documented traps are the 2010 MacLehose deluxe boxed set, which contains REVISED hardback texts with maps plus a fourth essay volume and is a separate first impression of that set rather than the first edition of this novel, and the post-film Quercus/Vintage paperback reissues carrying the original dates. On the UK first, a number line no longer retaining the 1 indicates a later printing despite the 2009 date.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest a first edition?

A first edition of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest by Stieg Larsson (Norstedts) is identified by: For the first English edition (MacLehose Press, London, 2009, hardback): first printing is identified by a complete descending number line retaining the 1 on the copyright page, consistent with the graded MacLehose Millennium printings documented by independent AbeBooks dealers (second printing drops to '...3 2', third to '...4 3', and so on).

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). The census claim is upheld.

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

No book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted. The documented traps are the 2010 MacLehose deluxe boxed set, which contains REVISED hardback texts with maps plus a fourth essay volume and is a separate first impression of that set rather than the first edition of this novel, and the post-film Quercus/Vintage paperback reissues carrying the original dates. On the UK first, a number line no longer retaining the 1 indicates a later printing despite the 2009 date.

I have a first edition of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest — 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.