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How to Identify a First Edition of Pet Sematary

Stephen King

A first edition of Pet Sematary says "First Edition" on the copyright page and carries the code Y38 in the gutter of page 374 — the last page. Doubleday, 1983, first printing of 250,000 copies, jacket priced $15.95. Check both: the code is what separates this printing from the ones that followed.

The first edition at a glance

Publisher
Doubleday
Published
1983
Original price
$15.95
Pages
374
Edition statement
"First Edition" stated on the copyright page, together with the code Y38 on page 374.

Identification checklist

  • Copyright page

    Reads "First Edition".

  • The code on page 374

    Y38, printed in the gutter — the inner margin — of the last page. Look for it alongside the copyright page statement rather than instead of it.

  • Publisher, year and size of the printing

    Doubleday, 1983. 374 pages, from a first printing of 250,000 copies.

  • Jacket price

    $15.95. A clipped flap removes the one dated marker on the jacket, and costs a first edition real money.

What does not make it a first edition

  • A copyright page that reads "First Edition", on its own

    The source gives two marks for this book, not one. Read the code on page 374 as well before concluding anything — a first printing carries both.

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.

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Other identification guides

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