How to identify a first printing
- First printing: the copyright page states 'First Printing' (often as 'First Signet printing, Month Year') with no later-printing lines; later printings stack the printing history. This explicit statement is the most reliable tell.
- Signet/NAL adopted a descending number line; a complete line ending in 1 indicates a first printing. From roughly the 1970s on the 'First Signet printing, Month Year' line plus the number line appear together.
- The catalog-number prefix encodes the price/format era (early Signet 25-cent numbers, then letter-price prefixes such as D-, T-, Q-); useful for dating, not a printing count.
Notable points & cautions
- NAL was formed in 1948 from the US branch of Penguin; Signet was the mass-market line, Mentor the nonfiction/quality line, and Plume and Meridian the trade lines.
- Signet was primarily a reprint house but issued many important paperback originals (notably Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer novels) where the Signet is the true first or first paperback.
- Onyx and Roc are later NAL genre imprints (Roc for science fiction and fantasy) using standard modern number-line firsts.
- Distinguish 'Signet Classic' (reprints of public-domain or established works, never a true first) from Signet genre originals.
Imprints
First editions also appear under: Signet, Signet Classics, Mentor, Plume, Meridian, NAL, Onyx, Roc. Each generally follows the house convention above.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if my Signet / New American Library (NAL) book is a first edition?
Check the copyright page. First printing: the copyright page states 'First Printing' (often as 'First Signet printing, Month Year') with no later-printing lines; later printings stack the printing history. This explicit statement is the most reliable tell. Signet/NAL adopted a descending number line; a complete line ending in 1 indicates a first printing. From roughly the 1970s on the 'First Signet printing, Month Year' line plus the number line appear together.
Does Signet / New American Library (NAL) use a number line?
Signet/NAL adopted a descending number line; a complete line ending in 1 indicates a first printing. From roughly the 1970s on the 'First Signet printing, Month Year' line plus the number line appear together.
Is a book-club edition a Signet / New American Library (NAL) first edition?
No. Book-club editions reprint the text but are not the true first edition. NAL was formed in 1948 from the US branch of Penguin; Signet was the mass-market line, Mentor the nonfiction/quality line, and Plume and Meridian the trade lines.
What era does this cover?
This covers Signet / New American Library (NAL) (1948-1990s). Conventions changed over time, so confirm the era of your copy.
Signet / New American Library (NAL) titles with documented first-edition points
Each link opens that title’s specific points of issue — the exact marks that separate a true first printing from a later one.
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (Arthur C. Clarke, 1968)
- A Lie of the Mind (Sam Shepard, 1986)
- Annette (Erskine Caldwell, 1973)
- Bridge of Ashes (Roger Zelazny, 1976)
- Death Instinct (Bentley Little, 1992)
- Death Instinct (Murder Game) (Phillip Emmons (Bentley Little), 1992)
- Dispatch (Bentley Little, 2005)
- Dominion (Bentley Little, 1996)
- Driftglass (Samuel R. Delany, 1971)
- His Father's Son (Bentley Little, 2009)
- Miss Mamma Aimee (Erskine Caldwell, 1967)
- Omensetter's Luck (William Gass, 1966)
- Rage (Richard Bachman (Stephen King), 1977)
- Roadwork (Richard Bachman (Stephen King), 1981)
- The Academy (Bentley Little, 2008)
- The Armies of the Night (Norman Mailer, 1968)
- The Association (Bentley Little, 2001)
- The Burning (Bentley Little, 2006)
- The Drowning Girl (Caitlín R. Kiernan, 2012)
- The Getaway (Jim Thompson, 1958)
- The Green Mile (Stephen King, 1996)
- The Haunted (Bentley Little, 2012)
- The House (Bentley Little, 1999)
- The Ignored (Bentley Little, 1997)
Documenting 36 Signet / New American Library (NAL) titles in all — browse the full title-by-title library →