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How to Identify a First Edition of Rage

Stephen King

A first edition of Rage is a Signet paperback, not a hardcover — it never had a US hardcover printing. The copyright page reads "First Printing, September, 1977" and the number line runs 123456789. Issue price $1.50. It is King's first novel as Richard Bachman, and it is out of print by his own decision.

The first edition at a glance

Publisher
Signet (New American Library)
Published
1977
Original price
$1.50
Pages
211
Edition statement
"First Printing, September, 1977" on the copyright page, with the number line 123456789.

Identification checklist

  • Copyright page

    Reads "First Printing, September, 1977".

  • Number line

    123456789. A line beginning at any higher number is a later printing — the usual paperback rule, and here it is the check that settles it.

  • Format and publisher

    A Signet mass-market paperback — Signet was an imprint of New American Library. 211 pages, from a first printing of 75,000 copies. There is no US hardcover first edition to look for.

  • Cover price

    $1.50.

What does not make it a first edition

  • Looking for it under King's name

    It was published as by Richard Bachman — King's first novel under that pseudonym — and it was written earlier under the title Getting It On. A catalogue search on King alone can miss it.

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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