# Is "The Green Mile" by Stephen King a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Green Mile by Stephen King (Signet, 1996) is identified by: Originally issued in 1996 as six serialized Signet mass-market paperback originals released about a month apart: 'The Two Dead Girls' (March 1996), 'The Mouse on the Mile,' 'Coffey's Hands,' 'The Bad Death of Eduard Delacroix,' 'Night Journey,' and 'Coffey on the Mile' (August 1996). The true first is the set of six 1996 Signet paperback originals, not any one-volume hardcover.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Originally issued in 1996 as six serialized Signet mass-market paperback originals released about a month apart: 'The Two Dead Girls' (March 1996), 'The Mouse on the Mile,' 'Coffey's Hands,' 'The Bad Death of Eduard Delacroix,' 'Night Journey,' and 'Coffey on the Mile' (August 1996)
- Each first printing carries a full number line beginning at 1; each is a paperback original priced at its printed cover price
- Publisher imprint reads Signet
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Stephen King |
| Publisher | Signet |
| Year | 1996 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Originally issued in 1996 as six serialized Signet mass-market paperback originals released about a month apart: 'The Two Dead Girls'… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Originally issued in 1996 as six serialized Signet mass-market paperback originals released about a month apart: 'The Two Dead Girls' (March 1996), 'The Mouse on the Mile,' 'Coffey's Hands,' 'The Bad Death of Eduard Delacroix,' 'Night Journey,' and 'Coffey on the Mile' (August 1996). Each first printing carries a full number line beginning at 1; each is a paperback original priced at its printed cover price.

## Is this the true first?
The true first is the set of six 1996 Signet paperback originals, not any one-volume hardcover. The later single-volume collected edition is a first thus. A complete first set requires all six parts in first printing.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings of any installment show a number line that no longer begins at 1. One-volume collected hardcovers, including book-club issues, are not the first. Match each of the six parts to its first printing.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Green Mile* by Stephen King a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-green-mile
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.