Is My Where Are the Children? a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The first printing is identified by a full descending number line on the copyright page (10 down to 1), with no printing or edition notice of any other kind
• This is consistent with documented Simon & Schuster house practice: from mid-1973 to 1980 the firm used a string of numbers on the copyright page to indicate the print number, spelling out "First Printing" only as an occasional exception
• The book is an octavo of 223 pages (LCCN 74019070
• ISBN 0-671-21942-1)
• The jacket should be priced at the front flap (price present, not clipped); price-clipped copies are common on this title
• Listings styled "S&S Classic Edition" are later reprints, not the 1975 first

How Simon and Schuster marked a first edition

• ERA 3 — Number-line introduction (mid-1973–1980): S&S adopted a copyright-page number line. Read the lowest number present: a line whose lowest digit is 1 is a first printing (e.g. '1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10' or the descendin…
• CROSS-CHECK across all number-line eras: A 1-bearing number line is frequently paired with a spelled-out first-issue statement (which may read 'First Printing' OR 'First Edition' — both occur at S&S). When a positive sta…

Full Simon and Schuster first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
4. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
6. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

US Simon and Schuster (New York, 1975) is the true first, and the census claim is confirmed — this is the originating edition of Clark's breakout suspense debut by her American publisher. The first UK edition is Talmy Franklin (London, 1975; ISBN 0-900-73539-2), also 223 pages, priced in sterling at the front flap; it is separately collected as the first British edition but does not precede the Simon and Schuster issue. Later Simon & Schuster, Pocket, and Fontana printings are reprints or first-thus, not firsts.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

A US book-club edition of the 1975 Simon and Schuster issue exists, circulates widely, and is frequently misdescribed by sellers as a first — some listings even read "Book Club Edition; the printed pricet Printing," which is not a first printing of the trade book. Club copies are identified in the usual way: no price at the jacket flap (the club jacket carries no printed price at all), a blind-stamped square or dot on the lower rear board, and a smaller, lighter book than the trade issue. Decisively, a club copy will not carry the full descending number line on the copyright page.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Where Are the Children? a first edition?

A first edition of Where Are the Children? by Mary Higgins Clark (Simon and Schuster) is identified by: The first printing is identified by a full descending number line on the copyright page (10 down to 1), with no printing or edition notice of any other kind.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). US Simon and Schuster (New York, 1975) is the true first, and the census claim is confirmed — this is the originating edition of Clark's breakout suspense debut by her American publisher.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

A US book-club edition of the 1975 Simon and Schuster issue exists, circulates widely, and is frequently misdescribed by sellers as a first — some listings even read "Book Club Edition; the printed pricet Printing," which is not a first printing of the trade book. Club copies are identified in the usual way: no price at the jacket flap (the club jacket carries no printed price at all), a blind-stamped square or dot on the lower rear board, and a smaller, lighter book than the trade issue. Decisi

I have a first edition of Where Are the Children? — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.