# Is "The Maze Runner" by James Dashner a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Maze Runner by James Dashner (Delacorte Press, 2009) 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. US Delacorte Press hardcover (New York, 2009) is the true first — the census claim holds.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- 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
- Publisher imprint reads Delacorte Press

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | James Dashner |
| Publisher | Delacorte Press |
| Year | 2009 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | US first printing: the copyright page states "First Edition" and carries the complete number line running to 1 (dealers transcribe it both… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## 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; 375 pp. 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.

## 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.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Maze Runner* by James Dashner a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-maze-runner
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.