Is My The Maze Runner a First Edition?

The points of issue

• US first printing: the copyright page states "First Edition" and carries the complete number line running to 1 (dealers transcribe it both descending, 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1, and ascending, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10); the line must include the 1
• Binding is quarter-bound in green paper with silver spine titles over black paper-covered boards
• Issued in a pictorial dust jacket with the price present at the flap (unclipped)
• Published 6 October 2009
• Useful working note: remainder marks are found on some genuine first printings and do not by themselves demote a copy when the full number line is present
• No first-state text error is documented

How Delacorte Press marked a first edition

• "First printing" or "First Edition" stated on the copyright page, frequently paired with a number line ending in 1
• Vonnegut-era Delacorte / Seymour Lawrence books: look for an explicit "First printing" statement on the copyright page (e.g. Slaughterhouse-Five is a stated first printing)

Full Delacorte Press 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?

US Delacorte Press hardcover (New York, 2009) is the true first — the census claim holds. The first British edition followed from Chicken House in 2010 and was a trade-paperback original, not a hardcover, so no competing UK hardcover first exists; the US hardcover is the only first-edition hardcover and the issue collected. No original-language precedence question arises (English-language original, US-published).

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition documented. Reprint tell: absence of the 1 from the number line. First-thus traps: the 2014 movie tie-in printings (Delacorte in the US, Chicken House in the UK incl. ISBN 9781909489400) and all later Delacorte printings are reprints, not firsts.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Maze Runner a first edition?

A first edition of The Maze Runner by James Dashner (Delacorte Press) is identified by: US first printing: the copyright page states "First Edition" and carries the complete number line running to 1 (dealers transcribe it both descending, 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1, and ascending, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10); the line must include the 1.

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). US Delacorte Press hardcover (New York, 2009) is the true first — the census claim holds.

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

No book-club edition documented. Reprint tell: absence of the 1 from the number line. First-thus traps: the 2014 movie tie-in printings (Delacorte in the US, Chicken House in the UK incl. ISBN 9781909489400) and all later Delacorte printings are reprints, not firsts.

I have a first edition of The Maze Runner — 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.