# Is "The Handle (Parker #8)" by Richard Stark (Donald E. Westlake) a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Handle (Parker #8) by Richard Stark (Donald E. Westlake) (Pocket Books, 1966) is identified by: Pocket Books mass-market paperback original, New York, 1966, with Harry Bennett cover art (depicting Parker, Crystal in full colour, and a greyscale Grofield). Paperback original; true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Pocket Books mass-market paperback original, New York, 1966, with Harry Bennett cover art (depicting Parker, Crystal in full colour, and a greyscale Grofield)
- Parker #8, and the last of the eight Perma/Pocket Books Parkers before the series moved to Fawcett Gold Medal
- Publisher imprint reads Pocket Books
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Richard Stark (Donald E. Westlake) |
| Publisher | Pocket Books |
| Year | 1966 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Pocket Books mass-market paperback original, New York, 1966, with Harry Bennett cover art (depicting Parker, Crystal in full colour, and a… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Pocket Books mass-market paperback original, New York, 1966, with Harry Bennett cover art (depicting Parker, Crystal in full colour, and a greyscale Grofield). Parker #8, and the last of the eight Perma/Pocket Books Parkers before the series moved to Fawcett Gold Medal.

## Is this the true first?
Paperback original; true first. No prior hardcover edition. The eight Pocket Books Parkers from The Hunter (1962) through The Handle (1966) all carried Harry Bennett covers.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Confirm the Pocket Books imprint on the copyright page and the Harry Bennett cover. Later printings and University of Chicago Press reissues (with Luc Sante introductions) exist and do not precede the 1966 original.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Handle (Parker #8)* by Richard Stark (Donald E. Westlake) a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-handle-parker-8
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.