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How to Identify a First Edition of It

Stephen King

A first edition of It says "First published in 1986 by Viking Penguin Inc." on the copyright page, has grey endpapers, and carries a $22.95 jacket. Viking, 1986. Unlike King's Doubleday titles there is no gutter code to check — the copyright page and the jacket price are the marks.

The first edition at a glance

Publisher
Viking
Published
1986
Original price
$22.95
Pages
1138
Edition statement
"First published in 1986 by Viking Penguin Inc." on the copyright page.

Identification checklist

  • Copyright page

    Should read "First published in 1986 by Viking Penguin Inc."

  • Endpapers

    Grey.

  • Jacket price

    $22.95 — at the time the most expensive book Viking had published. A clipped flap removes the clearest dated marker on the jacket.

  • Publisher, year and size of the printing

    Viking, copyright 15 September 1986. 1,138 pages, from a first printing of 800,000 copies.

What does not make it a first edition

  • Assuming scarcity from the title's fame

    The first printing ran to 800,000 copies. It is a famous book but not a rare one in first edition, and condition does almost all the work in what a copy is worth.

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

Sources