# Is "The Mailman" by Bentley Little a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Mailman by Bentley Little (Onyx, 1991) is identified by: Onyx (Signet/NAL) mass-market paperback original, published February 1991, with a full Onyx/Signet number line on the copyright page. The US Onyx paperback original is the first edition available at retail; the novel was published directly into paperback rather than preceded by any trade hardcover.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Onyx (Signet/NAL) mass-market paperback original, published February 1991, with a full Onyx/Signet number line on the copyright page
- This paperback is the first trade edition and the earliest form in which the novel reached retail readers; the wrappers carry a printed cover price, which should be present rather than obscured
- Publisher imprint reads Onyx
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Bentley Little |
| Publisher | Onyx |
| Year | 1991 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Onyx (Signet/NAL) mass-market paperback original, published February 1991, with a full Onyx/Signet number line on the copyright page |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Onyx (Signet/NAL) mass-market paperback original, published February 1991, with a full Onyx/Signet number line on the copyright page. This paperback is the first trade edition and the earliest form in which the novel reached retail readers; the wrappers carry a printed cover price, which should be present rather than obscured.

## Is this the true first?
The US Onyx paperback original is the first edition available at retail; the novel was published directly into paperback rather than preceded by any trade hardcover. Cemetery Dance later issued a first-thus hardcover reprint decades afterward.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
A 1991 hardcover exists but is an Onyx book-club exclusive, not the true first; as a book-club printing it carries no printed price on the jacket. The retail paperback original precedes it as the collectible first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Mailman* by Bentley Little a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-mailman
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.