Is My Copy of The Amityville Horror a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The first printing carries a complete number line on the copyright page containing the "1" — recorded by fedpo as "10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1." The presence of the "1" is the operative test; later printings strip the low digits, and a recorded seventh printing shows only the 7-through-10 remnant
• Collation: 201 pages
• Library of Congress catalog number 77002691
• Binding: brown cloth / linen boards with silver-stamped spine lettering, and red-and-yellow head- and tailbands
• Jacket: front panel carries the flies-and-devil-tail illustration by Barney Plotkin; the rear panel bears a photograph of the Ocean Avenue house together with four promotional blurbs
• The jacket should be a priced jacket with the price present at the front flap

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
4. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
6. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

The true first is the US edition: Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1977 (published September 1977). No competing UK or original-language edition holds precedence; the book was written in English and first issued in the United States. The trap: the ubiquitous Bantam mass-market paperbacks (from 1978) are reprints, not firsts, as are the later Suntup Editions fine-press issues — all "first thus" at best. Only the Prentice-Hall hardcover with the complete number line is the first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

A Book Club Edition was issued and is common; it is distinguished from the Prentice-Hall trade first by binding and construction rather than by the title page. BCE tells: an unpriced jacket (printed without a price, as opposed to a price-clipped trade jacket), a blind stamp / embossed device on the rear board, lighter-weight boards and paper stock, and a smaller trim than the trade first. The BCE lacks the trade first's complete number line. Side-by-side binding comparisons are published by fedpo and nocloo.P-041073

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Amityville Horror a first edition?

A first edition of The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson (Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ) is identified by: The first printing carries a complete number line on the copyright page containing the "1" — recorded by fedpo as "10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1." The presence of the "1" is the operative test; later printings strip the low digits, and a recorded seventh printing shows only the 7-through-10 remnant.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). The true first is the US edition: Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1977 (published September 1977).

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

A Book Club Edition was issued and is common; it is distinguished from the Prentice-Hall trade first by binding and construction rather than by the title page. BCE tells: an unpriced jacket (printed without a price, as opposed to a price-clipped trade jacket), a blind stamp / embossed device on the rear board, lighter-weight boards and paper stock, and a smaller trim than the trade first. The BCE lacks the trade first's complete number line.

I have a first edition of The Amityville Horror — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.