Is My The House Next Door a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The first printing carries a number line on the copyright page beginning with "1" and running to "10"; the presence of the "1" is the operative test, and later printings strip the low digits
• This is consistent with Simon & Schuster house practice, which adopted a number row in the early 1970s (occasionally alongside a first-edition statement) after using an explicit first-edition statement from 1952
• Collation: 346 pages, octavo
• Binding: brown cloth
• Jacket: pictorial, and it should be a priced jacket with the price present at the front flap; a remainder mark disqualifies a copy from first-printing condition though it does not change the printing
• No first-state textual error is documented for this title in the sources consulted — do not assert one

How Simon and Schuster, New York marked a first edition

• ERA 3 — Number-line introduction (mid-1973–1980): S&S adopted a copyright-page number line. Read the lowest number present: a line whose lowest digit is 1 is a first printing (e.g. '1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10' or the descendin…
• CROSS-CHECK across all number-line eras: A 1-bearing number line is frequently paired with a spelled-out first-issue statement (which may read 'First Printing' OR 'First Edition' — both occur at S&S). When a positive sta…

Full Simon and Schuster, New York 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. 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 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 true first is the US edition: Simon and Schuster, New York, 1978 — the census claim is confirmed, as is its canonisation by Stephen King in Danse Macabre as a modern haunted-house landmark. No UK or original-language edition holds precedence; the book was written in English and first issued in the United States, becoming a New York Times bestseller. Later Ballantine and HarperCollins mass-market printings and the 2007 Simon & Schuster reissue (ISBN 9781416553441) are "first thus" traps, not firsts — only the 1978 S&S hardcover with the number line beginning at 1 is the first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

A Book Club Edition was issued and is offered on the market, carrying the same Simon and Schuster 1978 imprint, which is the trap. BCE tells: an unpriced jacket (printed without a price rather than clipped), a blind stamp / embossed device on the rear board, lighter boards and stock, and a smaller trim than the trade first. The BCE lacks the trade first's number line beginning with "1."

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The House Next Door a first edition?

A first edition of The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons (Simon and Schuster, New York) is identified by: The first printing carries a number line on the copyright page beginning with "1" and running to "10"; the presence of the "1" is the operative test, and later printings strip the low digits.

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 true first is the US edition: Simon and Schuster, New York, 1978 — the census claim is confirmed, as is its canonisation by Stephen King in Danse Macabre as a modern haunted-house landmark.

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

A Book Club Edition was issued and is offered on the market, carrying the same Simon and Schuster 1978 imprint, which is the trap. BCE tells: an unpriced jacket (printed without a price rather than clipped), a blind stamp / embossed device on the rear board, lighter boards and stock, and a smaller trim than the trade first. The BCE lacks the trade first's number line beginning with "1."

I have a first edition of The House Next Door — 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.