Is My The Mailman a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Onyx (Signet/NAL) mass-market paperback original, published February 1991, with a full Onyx/Signet number line on the copyright page
• This paperback is the first trade edition and the earliest form in which the novel reached retail readers; the wrappers carry a printed cover price, which should be present rather than obscured

How Onyx marked a first edition

• First printing: the copyright page states 'First Printing' (often as 'First Signet printing, Month Year') with no later-printing lines; later printings stack the printing history. This explicit statement is the most reli…
• Signet/NAL adopted a descending number line; a complete line ending in 1 indicates a first printing. From roughly the 1970s on the 'First Signet printing, Month Year' line plus the number line appear together.

Full Onyx first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. 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.
3. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. 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.
5. 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 US Onyx paperback original is the first edition available at retail; the novel was published directly into paperback rather than preceded by any trade hardcover. Cemetery Dance later issued a first-thus hardcover reprint decades afterward.P-002902

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

A 1991 hardcover exists but is an Onyx book-club exclusive, not the true first; as a book-club printing it carries no printed price on the jacket. The retail paperback original precedes it as the collectible first.P-002903

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Mailman a first edition?

A first edition of The Mailman by Bentley Little (Onyx) is identified by: Onyx (Signet/NAL) mass-market paperback original, published February 1991, with a full Onyx/Signet number line on the copyright page.

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 US Onyx paperback original is the first edition available at retail; the novel was published directly into paperback rather than preceded by any trade hardcover.

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

A 1991 hardcover exists but is an Onyx book-club exclusive, not the true first; as a book-club printing it carries no printed price on the jacket. The retail paperback original precedes it as the collectible first.

I have a first edition of The Mailman — 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.