# Is "The Stars My Destination" by Alfred Bester a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester (Signet / New American Library, 1957) is identified by: US paperback original, Signet / New American Library (New York), 1957, catalogued as Signet S1389, with its printed cover price and first-printing code intact; William Blake's 'The Tyger' is printed at the front of the text. Under the US title 'The Stars My Destination,' the Signet paperback (S1389, 1957) is the true US first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- US paperback original, Signet / New American Library (New York), 1957, catalogued as Signet S1389, with its printed cover price and first-printing code intact
- William Blake's 'The Tyger' is printed at the front of the text
- The genuine world first appeared earlier in the UK as 'Tiger! Tiger!' from Sidgwick & Jackson (London) in hardcover, June 1956
- Publisher imprint reads Signet / New American Library
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Alfred Bester |
| Publisher | Signet / New American Library |
| Year | 1957 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | US paperback original, Signet / New American Library (New York), 1957, catalogued as Signet S1389, with its printed cover price and… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
US paperback original, Signet / New American Library (New York), 1957, catalogued as Signet S1389, with its printed cover price and first-printing code intact; William Blake's 'The Tyger' is printed at the front of the text. The genuine world first appeared earlier in the UK as 'Tiger! Tiger!' from Sidgwick & Jackson (London) in hardcover, June 1956.

## Is this the true first?
Under the US title 'The Stars My Destination,' the Signet paperback (S1389, 1957) is the true US first. The world first edition is the UK Sidgwick & Jackson hardcover 'Tiger! Tiger!' (June 1956), which precedes the US edition and bears the different title; collectors distinguish the two by title.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Signet printings raise the cover price and code away from the S1389 first-printing state. Do not confuse the US paperback with the earlier, scarcer UK 'Tiger! Tiger!' hardcover, which is the true world first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Stars My Destination* by Alfred Bester a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-stars-my-destination
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.