# Is "The Outfit (Parker #3)" by Richard Stark (Donald E. Westlake) a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Outfit (Parker #3) by Richard Stark (Donald E. Westlake) (Pocket Books, 1963) is identified by: Pocket Books paperback original, first printing, 1963, issued in the Pocket/Permabooks line under catalog number M-4292, running to 153 pages. A paperback original, so the first Pocket Books printing (catalog M-4292, 1963) is the true first; there was no preceding hardcover.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Pocket Books paperback original, first printing, 1963, issued in the Pocket/Permabooks line under catalog number M-4292, running to 153 pages
- The third Parker novel, published the same year as The Man with the Getaway Face
- As a mass-market original there is no dust jacket; identification rests on the printed cover with the M-4292 designation and 1963 copyright, with no later-printing statement on the copyright page
- Publisher imprint reads Pocket Books
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Richard Stark (Donald E. Westlake) |
| Publisher | Pocket Books |
| Year | 1963 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Pocket Books paperback original, first printing, 1963, issued in the Pocket/Permabooks… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Pocket Books paperback original, first printing, 1963, issued in the Pocket/Permabooks line under catalog number M-4292, running to 153 pages. The third Parker novel, published the same year as The Man with the Getaway Face. As a mass-market original there is no dust jacket; identification rests on the printed cover with the M-4292 designation and 1963 copyright, with no later-printing statement on the copyright page.

## Is this the true first?
A paperback original, so the first Pocket Books printing (catalog M-4292, 1963) is the true first; there was no preceding hardcover.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Pocket printings carry an added-printing statement on the copyright page or a revised catalog number; the University of Chicago Press and other hardcover/trade reissues are much later editions.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Outfit (Parker #3)* by Richard Stark (Donald E. Westlake) a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-outfit-parker-3
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.