# Is "Thud!" by Terry Pratchett a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Thud! by Terry Pratchett (Doubleday, 2005) is identified by: Discworld 34, a City Watch novel. The US Harper edition (13 September 2005) is technically the true first: it preceded the UK Doubleday (1 October 2005) by about three weeks to coincide with a US signing tour.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Discworld 34, a City Watch novel
- The UK Doubleday first printing
- carries the number line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2, with the last digit 1 present
- The US Harper first printing (ISBN 0-06-081522-1) states First Edition with a full number line and was issued on 13 September 2005, about three weeks ahead of the UK edition to coincide with a US signing tour; on the US copies the originally printed on-sale date of September 27 on the front cover was stickered over with the revised 13 September date on most copies
- A signed Doubleday slipcased issue of 1,000 copies, numbered and signed on the title page, was also released
- Publisher imprint reads Doubleday
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Terry Pratchett |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
| Year | 2005 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Discworld 34, a City Watch novel |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Discworld 34, a City Watch novel. The UK Doubleday first printing (2005) carries the number line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2, with the last digit 1 present. The US Harper first printing (ISBN 0-06-081522-1) states First Edition with a full number line and was issued on 13 September 2005, about three weeks ahead of the UK edition to coincide with a US signing tour; on the US copies the originally printed on-sale date of September 27 on the front cover was stickered over with the revised 13 September date on most copies. A signed Doubleday slipcased issue of 1,000 copies, numbered and signed on the title page, was also released.

## Is this the true first?
The US Harper edition (13 September 2005) is technically the true first: it preceded the UK Doubleday (1 October 2005) by about three weeks to coincide with a US signing tour. The UK Doubleday is the first UK edition and remains widely collected.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings advance or drop the terminal 1 from the number line.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Thud!* by Terry Pratchett a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/thud
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.