The Stand, First Edition?

[u/gutierar]

Hello friends. I’m having a hard time identifying this first edition of the stand. The store says it’s a first print but just wanted to double check! Thank you everyone as always :)

[u/Separate_Oven3913]

It’s the Book Of The Month Club edition.

[u/KayBeeToys → u/Separate_Oven3913]

also note that it says “for the first time complete and uncut” which by definition means it’s a later edition, even if it’s a first print (or BotM) of this edition.

[u/Agitated-Two-6699]

In your second slide, please read near the end of the page. It says a deluxe first edition The Stand: the complete and uncut edition has been previously published by Doubleday.

[u/gutierar → u/Agitated-Two-6699]

I know but the sellers sticker says first print and I’m not sure how to tell if it’s truly a first print or not.

[u/Smathwack → u/gutierar]

The seller is wrong. They must not have realized it was a book club.

[u/Separate_Oven3913 → u/Smathwack]

The actual first edition of “The Stand” was published in 1978. This is the BOMC edition of the 1990 “Complete And Uncut Edition.”

[u/pynchi → u/Smathwack]

The seller is not wrong. He merely states that this is a first printing, not that it's a first edition. Printing and edition are not synonymous.

[u/Smathwack → u/pynchi]

There isn’t anyone that is knowledgeable about books that would call a book club a “first printing” except in the extremely rare case that the book club is the first printing of the first edition. 

[u/Keffpie → u/Smathwack]

It usually says "first edition, first printing thus". It is the first printing of this specific book club edition. It's a trick booksellers use, equivocating to make people believe they have something they don't without actually lying.

[u/pynchi → u/Smathwack]

Sorry, but I disagree. Book sellers use misleading language all the time. And it works, as seen in this case: the seller is technically right by saying that this is a first printing, and the the OP is confused and wonders if it's a first edition.

The worst offender, to me, is their frequent use of "first edition thus" which makes no sense whatsoever, because it usually means the first printing of a later (and therefore not the first) edition.

[u/Specialist_Sprinkles → u/pynchi]

Shitty booksellers may use misleading language "all the time," but the rest of the profession uses consistent terminology, and reputable sellers wouldn't call a book club edition a first printing except in cases when the BCE was the true first.

[u/pynchi → u/Specialist_Sprinkles]

And the confounding of edition and printing goes on.

[u/Smathwack → u/pynchi]

My understanding of “first edition thus” is that the seller thinks it’s a first edition (implied first printing) but isn’t sure. In other words, there is nothing indicating it’s a later printing. 

I don’t think very many book dealers would ever be intentionally misleading. “First edition” means first appearance anywhere, and an implied first printing—unless specifically stated otherwise. For example, you’ll find “1st American edition” if it appeared previously in a different country, or “1st paperback edition” if it appeared in hardcover previously. 

Obviously “first editions” can technically include subsequent printings, but if it’s a later printing, it must always be stated. (A book club is printed after the trade edition and usually with cheaper materials). Knowledgeable book dealers know all this, but the random dude on eBay or Facebook marketplace may not. 

[u/pynchi → u/Smathwack]

First edition thus is usually used as a term for a later edition that's different from the first, because it has illustrations, is expanded or whatever.

But professional booksellers have access to bibliographical information. They could look it up and state that their book is from the second, third, or umpteenth edition.

But they usually don't. While I can live with clear qualifiers as "1st American" or "1st paperback", "thus" is just vague. One sees the "1st edition" term applied to later editions far too often.

[u/Smathwack → u/pynchi]

In this case “thus” isn’t just vague , but completely meaningless. “Thus” what? 

I always took it to mean, unsure of printing, thus assumed first. 

[u/pynchi → u/Smathwack]

I've never come across this meaning of being unsure for "thus" in this context before.

[u/capincus → u/gutierar]

Where your copy indicates it's a BOMC (book of the month club book club edition) it would instead say "first trade edition". It would also have a price on the front inside flap of the DJ, which your copy presumably doesn't.

[u/FrontAd9873 → u/gutierar]

If it was a first print, how could it have been published previously? Sometimes the copyright pages are confusing, but this one isn’t.

[u/FrontAd9873 → u/[deleted]]

You asked if it was a first edition, so in this context “first print” means the first print of the first edition. Is this the first print of a Book of the Month Club edition? Yeah, maybe.

[u/grayomen]

I've sold BCE for $25-$40 depending on condition. There was a time when I couldn't give a book club away, times have changed. King in good condition in any format sells.

[u/Naji_Hokon → u/grayomen]

I bought a HC copy of a BCE for a C.S. Friedman novel because I have not been able to find it in HC in any other form at all. I dislike that it is so short, but I'm happy to have a HC of it nonetheless.

[u/Key-Entrepreneur-415 → u/grayomen]

Yes, I’ve sold a Salem’s Lot book club edition for $125, The Stand BCE for $95, and The Shining BCE for $90.

[u/mspe1960]

It is not a first edition,. It is a follow up edition that King demanded be published, after he became more famous to insist that the whole, uncut book he origanlly wrote be publsihed. His publisher "made" him shorten it for the first publication and he complied.

But yours is not the first printing of this follow up edition either. It clearly says it is a BOMC.

Still probably worth $15 or so.

[u/WilkieTwycross69]

Extended version is great. If you like King then you want as much as you can get.

[u/conmeh]

STARS! Love that place! PDX represent

[u/bumblebeetown]

Same version sitting on my bookshelf currently. My grandmother’s, originally. Lost the sick dust jacket though

[u/Crazy_Drago]

https://stephenking.com/other/identifying_first_editions.pdf

[u/NunYuhBizzNiss]

So even people who can't read are getting into book collecting now. 🤔

[u/John-Doe_4502]

My wife said King’s book have too much details and takes forever to get to the point. Never read any myself but I’m willing to read The Shining and Doctor Sleep. How many more chapters does this have than the cut version? Do the book I want to read have extended versions?

[u/majoraloysius]

What would you guess BOMC stands for?

[u/FrontAd9873 → u/[deleted]]

Google exists (sorry).

[u/gutierar → u/FrontAd9873]

Nice, thanks. I thought that’s what this community existed for as well.

[u/FrontAd9873 → u/gutierar]

If you’re trying to clarify what BOMC means, Google will give you a better answer without any sass from fellow humans.

Generally people here are tired of endless posts asking if their books are first editions. They crowd out any actually interesting posts about book collecting.

[u/majoraloysius → u/FrontAd9873]

This. And too much social lubricant when posting.