Can’t determine edition printing or date

[Riceballtrp]

I have a copy of “The Shining” which I bought at a bookstore many years ago. It has a black cloth spine with tan boards and a dust jacket with an MPC bar code. The inner board paper is green and the writing on the spine is gold. The dust jacket is the original design as seen on the first edition. Inside the dust jacket at the top is printed “T.S.” and $19.95 and there aren’t any gutter codes which I can see, so I’m at a loss as to the publishing date and edition. Does any expert here have an idea?

[TheCollector]

I have a copy of “The Shining” which I bought at a bookstore many years ago. It has a black cloth spine with tan boards and a dust jacket with an MPC bar code. The inner board paper is green and the writing on the spine is gold. The dust jacket is the original design as seen on the first edition. Inside the dust jacket at the top is printed “T.S.” and $19.95 and there aren’t any gutter codes which I can see, so I’m at a loss as to the publishing date and edition. Does any expert here have an idea?

Hello again! Thanks to the high inflation that went on in the 1970's and 80's we also know that it's a later printing since a 1st printing would have $8.95 as the price and each year the price would have gone up by a dollar or two most years. Since your copy doesn't have a gutter code, we have to go by inflation data. We also know that Bar Codes started being in use around the mid 80's so a copy with a bar code can't be earlier that that.

Using BLS CPI data (annual averages), here’s what the original $8.95 Shining price becomes each year when adjusted for inflation.


Year Adjusted Price
1977 $8.95
1978 $9.47
1979 $10.37
1980 $11.63
1981 $12.83
1982 $13.52
1983 $13.92
1984 $14.46
1985 $14.88
1986 $15.16
1987 $15.67
1988 $16.29
1989 $17.03
1990 $18.34
1991 $19.01
1992 $19.47
1993 $19.89
1994 $20.27
1995 $20.63

Of course publisher's pricing adjustments won't exactly align with inflation, but I'd guess we're looking at the early 90's based off the data.

[Riceballtrp]

Fantastic! So, if I’m reading this correctly the year would more than likely be 1993 making this a first edition, 17th printing?

[TheCollector]

Fantastic! So, if I’m reading this correctly the year would more than likely be 1993 making this a first edition, 17th printing?

Ah...that's probably not quite right. Means that Doubleday would have followed the exact rate of published inflation when raising prices each year and that there was only a single printing each year. Things don't line up nicely like that for 15+ years. Think of this as more of a guide to get you in the ballpark for the year, and an even less precise guide for printing. But it's the best I can do.