# Is "Underworld" by Don DeLillo a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Underworld by Don DeLillo (Scribner, 1997) is identified by: Mostly accurate, with one factual error in the jacket description and a missing sharper point. US Scribner is the true first; UK Picador is later.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Mostly accurate, with one factual error in the jacket description and a missing sharper point
- CONFIRMED: - Full number line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2" (i.e., ending such that the lowest numeral 1 is present) on the copyright page = first printing
- Correct. - Dust jacket with its printed price US (Canadian the printed price)
- An unclipped flap showing the printed price is the correct first-state price
- Correct. - Scribner imprint
- US Scribner 1997 is the TRUE FIRST. UK Picador hardcover is 1998 (later)
- Publisher imprint reads Scribner

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Don DeLillo |
| Publisher | Scribner |
| Year | 1997 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Mostly accurate, with one factual error in the jacket description and a missing sharper point |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Mostly accurate, with one factual error in the jacket description and a missing sharper point. CONFIRMED:
- Full number line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2" (i.e., ending such that the lowest numeral 1 is present) on the copyright page = first printing. Correct.
- Dust jacket with its printed price US (Canadian the printed price). An unclipped flap showing the printed price is the correct first-state price. Correct.
- Scribner imprint; US Scribner 1997 is the TRUE FIRST. UK Picador hardcover is 1998 (later). Correct. (Note: a Picador uncorrected proof and an Australian release circulated in late 1997, but the US Scribner hardcover remains the recognized true first.)
- Signed copies are the premium. Correct. Note a distinct "not for sale" signed issue exists (tipped-in signed leaf, "not for sale" on the jacket back, no price on the flap) — a separate state, not the trade first. CORRECTION (jacket): The claim calls it the "black-and-white Manhattan/church jacket." The defining image is André Kertész's 1972 photograph of the World Trade Center TWIN TOWERS shrouded in fog, with a church steeple and cross in the foreground (front = positive image, rear = negative/inverted). The phrase "Manhattan/church" omits the single most identifying element — the Twin Towers. Reword to: "the black-and-white André Kertész photo of the World Trade Center towers with a church/cross in the foreground." ADD (stronger first-issue point): The front jacket reads "a novel by the author of LIBRA and WHITE NOISE." The Advance Reader's Copy reverses this to "by the author of WHITE NOISE and LIBRA" — a useful tell to distinguish the trade first from the ARC. Sources: FEDPO (fedpo.com/BookDetail.php/Underworld), Perival DeLillo bibliography (perival.com/delillo/underworld.html), Wikipedia "Underworld (novel)", aphelis.net on the Kertész 1972 photo.

## Is this the true first?
US Scribner is the true first; UK Picador is later. Signed copies are the premium.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Book-club edition lacks the full number line, has a blind-stamp, and a price-absent jacket.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Underworld* by Don DeLillo a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/underworld
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.