# Is "The Hacker Crackdown" by Bruce Sterling a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Hacker Crackdown by Bruce Sterling (Bantam, 1992) is identified by: Nonfiction, subtitled 'Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier.' The Bantam Books (New York) first hardcover has a number line on the copyright page descending to 1. The US Bantam hardcover of November 1992 is the true first edition and precedes the simultaneous Bantam trade paperback.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Nonfiction, subtitled 'Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier.' The Bantam Books (New York) first hardcover has a number line on the copyright page descending to 1
- It is bound in publisher's half cloth: an orange cloth spine over lime-green paper-covered boards
- The pictorial dust jacket should retain its printed price and carries a design credited to Kirschner Caroff
- The first printing was issued in November 1992
- Publisher imprint reads Bantam
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Bruce Sterling |
| Publisher | Bantam |
| Year | 1992 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Nonfiction, subtitled 'Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier.' The Bantam Books (New York) first hardcover has a number line on the… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Nonfiction, subtitled 'Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier.' The Bantam Books (New York) first hardcover has a number line on the copyright page descending to 1. It is bound in publisher's half cloth: an orange cloth spine over lime-green paper-covered boards. The pictorial dust jacket should retain its printed price and carries a design credited to Kirschner Caroff. The first printing was issued in November 1992.

## Is this the true first?
The US Bantam hardcover of November 1992 is the true first edition and precedes the simultaneous Bantam trade paperback. Sterling famously released the full text free electronically in 1994, but that release does not affect the printed first-edition priority.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Issued as a trade hardcover and a trade paperback; no book-club edition is typically encountered. On the hardcover, confirm the copyright-page number line descending to 1 to distinguish the first printing from later Bantam impressions.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Hacker Crackdown* by Bruce Sterling a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-hacker-crackdown
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.