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How to Identify a First Edition of Dune

Frank Herbert

A true first edition of Dune says "First Edition" on the copyright page, names no later printing, and carries no ISBN. It was published by Chilton in 1965 in blue boards with white spine lettering. The book most often mistaken for it is the Book Club edition, which looks almost identical until you compare the jacket art.

The first edition at a glance

Publisher
Chilton Books
Published
1965
Original price
$5.95
Pages
412
Edition statement
"First Edition" stated on the copyright page, with no mention of any subsequent printing.

Identification checklist

  • Copyright page

    Reads "First Edition" and names no later printing. There is no ISBN — the book predates their general use, so an ISBN anywhere on the book rules out the 1965 first.

  • Publisher

    Chilton Books. A Dune whose title page names any other publisher is not the 1965 first edition.

  • Binding

    Blue boards with white lettering on the spine, and grey endpapers.

  • Dust jacket back flap

    Four lines of publisher identification along the bottom, beginning with "CHILTON BOOKS". Later jackets use a different flap layout.

  • Price

    The jacket is priced $5.95.

What does not make it a first edition

  • The Book Club edition

    The most common false positive. It is close enough to fool a quick look, but the cover art is cropped tighter — noticeably more zoomed in than the true first. Book club copies also typically lack a jacket price and are lighter in the hand.

  • A correct-looking copyright page, on its own

    Reprint houses sometimes bought the original printing plates, so their reprints can carry the same copyright page as the first. Book clubs reproduce it too. The ABAA's advice is to check the copyright page against the foot of the spine, where a reprint house usually put its own name.

Think you have one?

Photograph the cover and the copyright page and FirstFinder will work out the edition and printing, then price it against copies that actually sold. What a specific copy is worth depends on its condition and its jacket, which is why there is no single number on this page.

Check your copy

Other identification guides

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