# Is "The Stranger Beside Me" by Ann Rule a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule (W. W. Norton & Company, 1980) is identified by: The first printing carries both Norton's first-edition statement and a number line beginning with 1 on the copyright page — one ABAA-tier dealer records it as 'First edition, first printing (with publisher's requisite statement for former and number line starting with "1" both upon copyright page),' and a second independently describes the first printing as having the 'full number line to "1".' The number line is the point to test rather than the statement alone: Norton's house practice was to use a first-edition statement without noting later printings, and Norton is documented as having occasionally failed to strip that statement from subsequent printings, so a stated 'First Edition' with a broken or absent low digit is not a first. The census claim is confirmed: the Norton hardcover (New York, 1980) is the true first, and the mass-market Signet paperback that carried the book to its mass readership is a later, separate issue — the hardcover printing was small, which is why firsts are scarce.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The first printing carries both Norton's first-edition statement and a number line beginning with 1 on the copyright page — one ABAA-tier dealer records it as 'First edition, first printing (with publisher's requisite statement for former and number line starting with "1" both upon copyright page),' and a second independently describes the first printing as having the 'full number line to "1".' The number line is the point to test rather than the statement alone: Norton's house practice was to use a first-edition statement without noting later printings, and Norton is documented as having occasionally failed to strip that statement from subsequent printings, so a stated 'First Edition' with a broken or absent low digit is not a first
- Hardcover, 350 pages, ISBN 0393013995
- A first-issue jacket is a priced jacket with the price present at the flap; copies are very commonly found clipped, and light foxing to the page block and edges is characteristic of the issue
- Publisher imprint reads W. W. Norton & Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Ann Rule |
| Publisher | W. W. Norton & Company |
| Year | 1980 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The first printing carries both Norton's first-edition statement and a number line beginning with 1 on the copyright page — one ABAA-tier… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The first printing carries both Norton's first-edition statement and a number line beginning with 1 on the copyright page — one ABAA-tier dealer records it as 'First edition, first printing (with publisher's requisite statement for former and number line starting with "1" both upon copyright page),' and a second independently describes the first printing as having the 'full number line to "1".' The number line is the point to test rather than the statement alone: Norton's house practice was to use a first-edition statement without noting later printings, and Norton is documented as having occasionally failed to strip that statement from subsequent printings, so a stated 'First Edition' with a broken or absent low digit is not a first. Hardcover, 350 pages, ISBN 0393013995. A first-issue jacket is a priced jacket with the price present at the flap; copies are very commonly found clipped, and light foxing to the page block and edges is characteristic of the issue.

## Is this the true first?
The census claim is confirmed: the Norton hardcover (New York, 1980) is the true first, and the mass-market Signet paperback that carried the book to its mass readership is a later, separate issue — the hardcover printing was small, which is why firsts are scarce. No UK or foreign-language edition precedes. The significant trap here is not UK-vs-US but the author's own serial revisions: Rule repeatedly expanded the book with new afterwords and updates (editions dated 1986, 1989, 2000, 2008 and 2021), and every one of those is 'first thus' with added text, not the 1980 first. A stated '20th Anniversary' or 'Updated' edition is never the true first regardless of what the copyright page's number line shows.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club or reprint tells are documented for this title in the sources consulted. Do not publish a club point for it.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Stranger Beside Me* by Ann Rule a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-stranger-beside-me
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.