US first editions

1st editions, book club, etc... find the answers here
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miserywilkes
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US first editions

Post by miserywilkes »

hi i live in the UK so to buy first edition US King books i have to order them online (mainly Ebay/Amazon/ and CD) but recently i have ordered (from Ebay.co.uk) a couple of Stephen King first US editions they are DREAMCATCHER and FROM A BUICK 8, the sellers described them as the first US printings by SCRIBNER which is what they appear to be with the $ DJ price tag and the full number line etc, but i would just like someone to assure me that these are (would be) the first US editions and not some kind of strange UK re print. they do both have all they need to be the US editions . i do own all the DOUBLEDAY first editions which are extremely easy to tell a first edition, but these scribner are quite difficult. i would be grateful for any comments on this. many thanks
jhanic
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Re: US first editions

Post by jhanic »

Under the contractual agreements, a UK publisher is not allowed to print what appears to be a US book, and vice-versa. You should be able to distinguish a UK and US edition fairly easily, except for The Talisman, where the two editions are very similar. (The UK Talisman has a slightly different design on the dust jacket from that on the US edition.) If you have what appear to be US firsts, the chances are good they are legit.

John
miserywilkes
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Re: US first editions

Post by miserywilkes »

hi John thanks for your helpful info. so the same again if i bought a VIKING US edition in the UNITED KINGDOM and it had all the first ed points the $ price the full number line and FIRST PUBLISHED BY VIKING PENGUIN/ PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, it would be ONLY a US edition and not some strange UK re print, the reason i ask is that i once saw a copy of NEEDFUL THINGS for sale in a second hand book shop it had the first Viking US cover the price inside however was in UK £. does that make sense? i have had no problem with my Doubleday books as they are extremely easy to distinguish a first ed! thanks again
jhanic
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Re: US first editions

Post by jhanic »

I've never heard of a Viking edition being priced in British pounds. I don;t know what to make of that. If you have a Viking edition priced in dollars with all the markers of a first edition, I'm sure it's a US first.

John
miserywilkes
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Re: US first editions

Post by miserywilkes »

Thanks again John, i guess we'll have no idea what that strange Viking print was!!.
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