Night Shift Crown jewel
What it’s about
Night Shift is Stephen King's first short story collection, gathering twenty tales of dread that find horror lurking in the ordinary: a rust-belt textile mill with something monstrous in its basement, a small town gone wrong, killer machines, restless dead, and human cruelty that needs no supernatural help. Spanning gut-level scares and slow creeping unease, it is the early King in concentrated form — lean, mean, and built to be read with the lights on.
Significance King's debut story collection (Doubleday, 1978), published under his own name; several entries became films — "Children of the Corn," "The Lawnmower Man," "Trucks" (basis for King's own "Maximum Overdrive"), and "Graveyard Shift" — and stories like "Jerusalem's Lot" and "One for the Road" tie directly into the 'Salem's Lot mythos.
How to spot a true first 30-second check
A true 1st/1st needs BOTH the book and the jacket verified. A first-state jacket on a later or book-club book — or the reverse — is a married copy, not a first.
The verification ledgerevery marker, graded — verified · asserted · unverified
Verified seen on a confirmed copy Asserted sourced, not yet photographed Unverified thin / contested
A true 1st/1st must show
- Verified Copyright page book — "First Edition" stated on the copyright page. Required, but NOT sufficient alone — it must pair with the S52 gutter code.
- Asserted Gutter code book — Printer's date code "S52" near the inner margin at the foot of page 336 (the last text page). This is the load-bearing first-printing proof per the official stephenking.com guide; S = 1977, 52 = the last printing week, i.e. late December 1977.
- Asserted Binding / boards book — Quarter-bound: black cloth spine over RED boards, gilt spine lettering, sewn. Trim 5¾ x 8½ x 1". (The black spine + red boards two-tone is independently confirmed by multiple dealers; club boards are 2-tone GRAY.)
- Asserted Number line book — None. Doubleday-era Kings carry no descending number row; the S52 gutter code plus the "First Edition" wording identify the first. (The guide's number-line/numeral-1 rule applies to other publishers' King titles, not the Doubleday era.)
- Asserted Jacket price jacket — $8.95 printed directly on the inside front jacket flap; ISBN 0-385-12991-2 also appears on the flap. A club jacket carries NO printed flap price.
- Verified Jacket art jacket — Wholly typographic jacket — cream/buff ground, thin red rule, the title in a heavy black display face, "STEPHEN KING" in brown/gold over a red drip, and a white diagonal corner banner. NO illustration of any kind. The rear-flap foot prints "JACKET BY FRED MARCELLINO" above "ISBN: 0-385-12991-2 / Printed in the U.S.A."; the author photograph higher on the same flap is separately credited "PHOTO BY ALEX GOTFRYD". King wrote the foreword; John D. MacDonald the introduction.
Disqualifies it — book-club or later
- Asserted Gutter code — An "mp"-prefixed code (mp6aa / mp6z / mp2y) on the bottom-right of a blank end page instead of S52 on p.336 = a Book-of-the-Month / book-club body, NOT a first.
- Asserted Boards — 2-tone GRAY boards (rather than RED under black quarter cloth) = the book-club edition.
- Asserted Jacket price — No price printed inside the front flap = a club jacket (the guide's flat rule), even if the jacket carries the original art and never says "Book Club Edition."
- Asserted Copyright page — Copyright page that does NOT read "First Edition" = a club/later printing or an altered copy; the wording alone is insufficient but its absence is disqualifying.
- Asserted Edition / publisher — The New English Library UK 1978 printing, and modern reissues (Suntup Editions; PS Publishing "New Cover Series No.15," Glenn Chadbourne art; Cemetery Dance deluxe), are not the true first — only the 1978 Doubleday trade hardcover is.
- Verified Jacket art / credit — An ILLUSTRATED Night Shift jacket, or a jacket crediting "Jim Phiesen", is a Doubleday reissue of c.1990 (art by Jim Thiesen, who reissue-jacketed King's first four titles) — NOT the 1978 first. Doubleday reprints keep the 1978 copyright date, so such a copy is routinely catalogued as "1978". Separately, the bandaged-hand-with-eyes art is Don Brautigam's 1979 SIGNET PAPERBACK cover, a different edition and format entirely.
Proves nothing — shared traps
- Shared Jacket (married copy) — A club jacket can be placed on a first to replace a lost/damaged one (the official guide warns of this), so a priced OR unpriced jacket alone proves nothing — confirm the S52 book body (RED boards) underneath, never the jacket alone.
- Shared "First Edition" wording — "First Edition" on the copyright page is necessary but SHARED in spirit with the trap of an altered/facsimile copyright page; it confirms nothing without the S52 gutter code on p.336.
- Shared Trim size — Doubleday firsts of this era are themselves close to "book-club sized," so trim alone does not separate first from club — board color + gutter code do.
- Shared Price sticker — A $8.95 price STICKER (rather than a price printed on the flap) is a WARNING SIGN that a club/substituted jacket may be in play — treat it as a caution, not as a blessed first-state sub-state. A copy still needs S52 + RED boards + "First Edition" to be a first; the sticker by itself does not confirm one.
- Shared Remainder marks — A sprayed/marker remainder mark on the bottom edge is a value caveat, not an edition change — a remainder-marked copy with S52 + RED boards + priced flap is still a first, worth less.
What to look for
- Two-point gate: copyright page must read "First Edition" AND S52 must sit at the foot of p.336 — both, or it's a club/later copy.
- Board color is the fast tell: RED boards + black quarter cloth = first; 2-tone GRAY boards = book-club edition.
- Club traps: SFBC/BOMC issues carry "mp"-prefixed gutter codes, no printed flap price, and gray boards — never a first.
- Jacket alone is NOT decisive — Doubleday club jackets were sometimes placed on firsts; verify boards + S52 together.
- A printed $8.95 STICKER (vs. printed-on flap) means substituted jacket stock — still a first if S52 + "First Edition" present, lower value.
- Remainder marks on the bottom edge are common and still a first (reduced value); price-clipped or ex-library copies are heavily devalued.
- Don't confuse with the NEL UK 1978 first or modern Suntup/PS New-Cover/Cemetery Dance reissues.
- Jacket is TYPOGRAPHIC — no picture on it. An illustrated Night Shift jacket (or one crediting "Jim Phiesen") is a c.1990 reissue, never the 1978 first; the first credits "JACKET BY FRED MARCELLINO" at the rear-flap foot.
Verified listings marker-checked
Each copy screened against the seller's own photos. ✓ confirmed = a photo shows the decisive marker; ⚠ not pictured = the shot to ask for before buying. Condition grades are as-pictured.
Buyer beware — verify before you buy. These are our screening opinions, read from each seller’s own photographs; we can misjudge a copy or misread an image. A listing marked “1st/1st confirmed” is not a guarantee — independently confirm the decisive book and jacket markers with the seller before any purchase. Authentication and the buying decision remain the buyer’s responsibility.
Genuine first — S52 photographed — but a $150–$250 Good copy wearing a $799 ticket. Bless the book, pass on the price.
- Gutter code S52 — S52 sits plain and legible at the foot of page 336, the last text page — the decisive Doubleday first-printing tell, photographed.
- Binding — Correct quarter-bound Doubleday body: black cloth spine, imprint at spine foot, no club blind-stamp and no mp-code.
- Copyright — Bench notes the 'First Edition' line stayed out of frame — ask the seller to photograph the copyright page.
- Jacket price — $8.95 priced flap not shown and seller contradictorily lists 'no DJ'; jacket can't be credited toward value until pictured.
- Condition shot — Foxing, damp-spotting front to back and a 1978 owner's name inked on the endpaper noted — get clear shots before paying.
Exterior-only and price-clipped at $1,500 — correct jacket and binding, but needs the S52 plate before it's a first.
- Dust jacket — Front jacket carries correct first-state art with 'Doubleday' at the spine foot — rules out the illustrated reprint.
- Binding — Black cloth spine, correct gilt 'NIGHT SHIFT / Stephen King' titling — consistent with the true first binding.
- Gutter code S52 — The decisive S52 code at the foot of the last text page is NOT photographed — ask for a shot of the inner margin at page 336.
- Copyright — No copyright page shown, so the 'First Edition' line is unconfirmed; listing metadata oddly reads 'Doubleday, 1993'.
- Jacket price — Jacket is price-clipped per seller and the $8.95 flap corner is not pictured — the price marker can't be confirmed.
- Binding — No rear-board shot — a BCE blind-stamp can be neither confirmed nor ruled out.
Reputable ABAA 'First Edition' at $2,000, but one jacket photo proves no printing marker — needs the S52 plate first.
- Dust jacket — Single front-cover photo matches the genuine 1978 Doubleday first-edition jacket art — rules out the Cemetery Dance reprint.
- Gutter code S52 — Decisive S52 code at the foot of the last text page is NOT photographed — ask for a shot of the gutter at page 336.
- Copyright — No copyright page shown; the stated 'First Edition' line is unproven — an ABAA dealer asserts it, but testimony is not proof.
- Jacket price — Front cover only — the $8.95 flap price and clip status are not visible; ask for the priced flap.
- Binding — No rear board pictured, so a BCE blind-stamp can't be excluded; seller notes glue remnants to both pastedowns/flaps.
Full identification detail & sourcescopyright · jacket · binding · book-club traps · print run · value · references
The Doubleday 1978 trade hardcover IS the true first. Unlike The Dark Tower (Grant), Eyes of the Dragon (Philtrum), or Cycle of the Werewolf (Land of Enchantment), Night Shift had no preceding small-press or paperback-original issue. The Doubleday Book Club Edition / SFBC / BOMC issue is NOT a first (see BCE tells). The UK first (New English Library, 1978) is a separate, later printing and not the true first. Modern signed/limited reissues (Suntup Editions; PS Publishing "New Cover Series No.15," Glenn Chadbourne art; Cemetery Dance deluxe) are decades-later collectibles, not the first. NOTE: Doubleday trade firsts are themselves "book-club sized" (the guide gives trim BECAUSE club editions are often smaller, but here trade and club are close in size), and the official guide warns that club dust jackets are "occasionally found on first editions to replace lost or damaged jackets" — so board color (RED) + the S52 gutter code, NOT the jacket alone, are the deciding tests.
First-printing points at a glance
Dust jacket
WHOLLY TYPOGRAPHIC — there is no illustration on the 1978 Doubleday jacket. Cream/buff ground inside a thin red rule border; the title set very large in a heavy black display face, "Night" above "Shift"; "STEPHEN KING" across the foot in brown/gold, with a red drip running down from the rule beneath it; and a white diagonal banner across the upper-left corner reading "Excursions into horror by the author of CARRIE and THE SHINING / Introduction by: John D.MacDonald". Spine: "Night Shift / STEPHEN KING / Doubleday". Front flap carries the price "N.S. $8.95" at the upper right and the ISBN 0-385-12991-2; the rear flap carries the author photograph (credited "PHOTO BY ALEX GOTFRYD"), the bio, and at its foot "JACKET BY FRED MARCELLINO" above the ISBN and "Printed in the U.S.A." King wrote the book's FOREWORD himself and John D. MacDonald supplied the INTRODUCTION. CORRECTED 2026-08-04 — this field previously described "a bandage-wrapped human hand with eyes peering/growing out of the flesh — imagery from the story 'I Am the Doorway'". That image is DON BRAUTIGAM'S art for the 1979 SIGNET MASS-MARKET PAPERBACK, not any Doubleday hardcover jacket. Our own catalogue cover image (images/night-shift.jpg) has shown the correct typographic jacket all along, so the page displayed the right picture beside a description of a different book's jacket; the prose was never checked against the plate. Relatedly, the "die-cut holes revealing eyes" claim an earlier pass dismissed as uncorroborated is REAL — it is the keyhole stepback of the first Signet paperback printing — and was dismissed only because that pass had anchored on the wrong edition.
Art / design: FRED MARCELLINO. The jacket credits itself: at the foot of the REAR flap, in small caps, "JACKET BY FRED MARCELLINO", set directly above "ISBN: 0-385-12991-2" and the italic "Printed in the U.S.A." Read glyph-for-glyph on two physically unrelated copies from unrelated sellers (eBay 297796280211, perusethestacks, Gig Harbor WA; eBay 277749781020, mfrancis873, El Dorado Hills CA), and carried identically on the Heritage Auctions copy catalogued with the S52 code and an unclipped $8.95 flap; the Marcellino estate catalogue lists the title under this edition's exact ISBN (9780385129916 = 0-385-12991-2). A SEPARATE and different credit sits beside King's portrait higher on the same flap — "PHOTO BY ALEX GOTFRYD" — which credits Doubleday's art director for the AUTHOR PHOTOGRAPH only, never for the jacket. Note the printed wording is one unqualified line, "JACKET BY": Marcellino is credited with the jacket, and because the jacket carries no illustration whatever (it is wholly typographic) we do not separately assert that he "illustrated" it. CORRECTED 2026-08-04 — this field previously read "Jim Phiesen … The draft's alternative attribution to 'Fred Marcellino' is unsupported by any source consulted," which was exactly backwards, and the error is left described here rather than quietly deleted. "Jim Phiesen" is not the first-edition credit; it is a LATER-PRINTING tell — see commonFakesCautions and verifyNotes.
Also watch for: Cautions: (1) "Married" jackets — a price-clipped or club jacket placed on a first, or a first jacket on a club body; verify board color (RED boards + black quarter cloth = first; GRAY = club) AND the S52 gutter code together. The official guide warns club jackets were occasionally placed on firsts, so the jacket alone is never decisive. (2) $8.95 price STICKER (not printed) — a CAUTION — a sticker can mean a club jacket was substituted onto the body; it confirms nothing, so still require S52 + “First Edition” + red boards if S52 + "First Edition" CP present, but lower value. (3) Altered copyright pages / facsimile jackets — confirm BOTH "First Edition" wording and the S52 gutter code on p.336; one without the other = altered/club/later. (4) Price-clipped jackets (corner cut to hide $8.95) lower value and can mask a club jacket. (5) Remainder marks on the bottom edge are common (still a first, reduced value). (6) Ex-library copies heavily devalued. (7) Don't confuse with the NEL UK 1978 first, the BOMC "mp"-code variant, or modern Suntup/PS New-Cover/Cemetery Dance reissues. (8) JACKET ART/CREDIT IS A PRINTING TELL, and it points the OPPOSITE way from what this field used to say. The 1978 first's jacket is wholly TYPOGRAPHIC and credits "JACKET BY FRED MARCELLINO" at the rear-flap foot. An ILLUSTRATED Night Shift jacket, or one crediting "Jim Phiesen", is a Doubleday reissue of c.1990 — not a first. The trap is that Doubleday reprints keep the original 1978 copyright date, so a dealer listing a Thiesen/"Phiesen"-jacketed reprint still says "1978"; our own cited source (Rare Book Cellar 172149) says "Fourteenth Printing" in its own title. Never accept a jacket credit as an edition point without the S52 gutter code. (9) Beware also the 1979 SIGNET paperback's bandaged-hand-with-eyes art (Don Brautigam) being described as the first edition's jacket — it is a different edition and a different format.
Print run & scarcity
Collector/dealer consensus figure (publisher never disclosed an audited count). First and Fine (specialist dealer): "Only approximately 12,000 first edition copies were printed (even 'Carrie' King's first book, 'Salem's Lot' and 'The Shining' had larger first print runs)." The ~12,000 figure is repeated consistently across King-collecting.
First-state points & errata
Two-point test for a first-state first printing: (1) "First Edition" stated on the copyright page, AND (2) the alphanumeric printer's gutter code "S52" at the foot of page 336 (the last text page). Both required; cross-confirmed by the official stephenking.com 2024 guide plus dealers (Very Fine Books, AbeBooks/Magnum Opus). If the copyright page does NOT read "First Edition," or the gutter code is anything other than S52 (club issues carry "mp"-prefixed codes such as mp6aa/mp6z/mp2y), the copy is a club/later printing or has been altered. No widely documented internal typo/text-state variant is required beyond these two points (unlike 'Salem's Lot's Father Cody/Callahan jacket states). REMAINDER MARKS (sprayed/marker on the bottom edge) are common — a remainder-marked copy is still a first but worth less. $8.95 STICKER SUB-STATE: Doubleday is reported to have run out of first-edition jackets and applied a printed $8.95 price STICKER over some jackets (including some on club bodies); a sticker-priced copy with the S52 code + "First Edition" CP is still a first printing but is valued below a copy with the price printed directly on the flap.
Limited & signed editions
No 1978 signed/numbered/traycased limited was issued by Doubleday at publication. Author-signed/inscribed first-edition copies exist and command strong premiums (Bauman Rare Books, Second Story Books, Sotheby's, First and Fine). Later collector limiteds are reissues, NOT firsts: Suntup Editions Night Shift (Artist/Numbered/Lettered, signed); PS Publishing "Stephen King New Cover Series No.15 — Night Shift" (Glenn Chadbourne art, 1/500, signed); Cemetery Dance "Night Shift: The Deluxe Special Edition." A signed Book Club Edition has been offered traycased with COA (Very Fine Books) but remains a club copy.
Market value estimate
~$700–$1.5k
Assumes a genuine first edition / first printing in near-fine to fine condition (clean copy, unclipped jacket). Lesser condition is worth less.
Sale evidence no verified realized price: ~£440 hammer (~$560) — Dominic Winter, Dec 12 2019, lot 838: 1978 Doubleday w/ S52 gutter code but PRICE-CLIPPED jacket AND bundled with 6 other King/Koontz books (discount comp, drags low end). | ~$925 — signed/inscribed copy (Walter Shirley association), PBA Galleries Fine Literature sale, Dec 2024 (signed premium). | Dealer/secondary market: fine/fine unclipped unsigned copies offered $900–$1,400 (e.g., Very Fine Books / Bauman / Magnum Opus listings); a Good/VG unclipped copy carried a $1,400 ask, indicating retail anchoring well above raw condition. | Collector-community consensus (stephenkingcollector.com forum): fine first ~$450–$650 base, +$100–$200 in true fine condition.
No confirmed sale found, so this is rated at no less than its original jacket price — a true first/first should hold at least retail in near-fine/fine condition. Soft estimate from dealer listings (treat as approximate): $700–1,500 (genuine first, fine/fine, unclipped $8.95 jacket, S52 gutter code, unsigned)
Book-club edition (the trap): $10–25. Doubleday/BOMC book-club edition is "virtually worthless" — still sells $9.99 routinely. Signed BCEs in tray-cases with COA are the only ones that fetch real money (a few hundred), and that's for the signature, not the book. — a fraction of a true first; never pay first-edition money for one.
Condition is everything: the tan Marcellino jacket chips/tones, and a price-CLIPPED jacket cuts value ~40–60% (the 2019 clipped comp shows this). Ex-library, remainder-marked, or stained copies fall to ~$150–$400. SIGNED/INSCRIBED is a major multiplier — an authentic King signature takes a fine/fine first to roughly $2,500–$6,000+. SINGLE BIGGEST DISCRIMINATOR for Night Shift: the Doubleday gutter code "S52" in the gutter of page 336 (final leaf) MUST be present AND the rear board must have NO book-club blind-stamp (the indented dot near the spine tail). BCEs carry NO gutter code and ARE blind-stamped — so S52-present + no-blind-stamp + unclipped $8.95 flap + "First Edition" on the copyright page is the exact combination separating a ~$1,000 true first from the flood of ~$15 BCEs mislisted as "1978 first edition." Watch for married/facsimile jackets and clipped flaps re-priced by hand.
- https://veryfinebooks.com/stephen-king-night-shift-first-edition-first-printing-S52-code-1978/
- https://www.dominicwinter.co.uk/Auction/Lot/838-king-stephen-night-shift-1st-edition-1978/?lot=353807&sd=1
- https://www.stephenkingcollector.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=307&start=0
- https://www.stephenkingcollector.com/1st/nightshift.html
- https://www.baumanrarebooks.com/rare-books/king-stephen/night-shift/110788.aspx
- https://veryfinebooks.com/stephen-king-night-shift-signed-edition-doubleday/
Sources
- https://stephenking.com/other/identifying_first_editions.pdf
- https://veryfinebooks.com/stephen-king-night-shift-first-edition-first-printing-S52-code-1978/
- https://www.abebooks.com/first-edition/Night-Shift-King-Stephen-Doubleday-Company/31353495922/bd
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Shift_(short_story_collection)
- https://www.etsy.com/listing/1521992511/night-shift-by-stephen-king-hardcover
- https://www.rarebookcellar.com/pages/books/172149/stephen-king/night-shift-jim-phiesen-cover-dust-jacket
- https://www.secondstorybooks.com/pages/books/1389315/stephen-king-john-d-macdonald/night-shift-signed-by-king
- https://bookshopapocalypse.com/products/night-shift-by-stephen-king-first-book-club-edition-1978-doubleday-1
- https://www.stephenkingcollector.com/forums/other-edition-questions-f4/night-shift-gutter-code-mp6aa-t2226.html
- https://www.stephenkingcollector.com/forums/other-edition-questions-f4/night-shift-t721.html
- https://www.firstandfine.com/product/king-stephen-1978-night-shift-signed-first-edition/
- https://www.baumanrarebooks.com/rare-books/king-stephen/night-shift/110788.aspx
- https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/_stephen-king-night-shift-signed-first-edition-first-printing-book
- https://veryfinebooks.com/stephen-king-night-shift-signed-edition-doubleday/
- https://www.etsy.com/listing/1045220238/night-shift-stephen-king-book-club
- https://fredmarcellino.com/books/night-shift/
- http://barebonesez.blogspot.com/2010/11/illustrator-jim-thiesen-barebones.html
- https://www.firstandfine.com/product/king-stephen-1978-night-shift-signed-first-edition/
- https://veryfinebooks.com/stephen-king-night-shift-first-edition-first-printing-S52-code-1978/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Shift_(short_story_collection)
- https://www.stephenkingcollector.com/1st/nightshift.html
Verification notes: SECOND ADVERSARIAL PASS. INDEPENDENT SOURCES NEWLY CONFIRMED/ADDED (not relied on in the draft's confirmed points): (a) the OFFICIAL stephenking.com "Identifying first editions (updated 2024)" guide (Bev Vincent) read directly as the RENDERED PDF TABLE this pass — the Night Shift row reads verbatim: 1978 / Doubleday / trim 5¾ x 8½ x 1" / DJ $8.95 / '"First Edition" on CP' + "S52 on page 336." This authoritatively confirms the two load-bearing points, the price, and the trim. The same guide's preamble states the Doubleday-era King titles "all say 'First Edition' explicitly on the copyright page," that club DJs are identifiable because "they do not have a price marked inside the front cover," and that "Book Club edition dust jackets are occasionally found on first editions to replace lost or damaged jackets." (b) stephenkingcollector forum thread t2226 ("gutter code mp6aa") + Etsy BCE listing 1045220238 — independently establish that CLUB issues carry "mp"-prefixed codes (mp6aa, mp6z, mp2y) on a blank end page, NOT "S52," and NOT "T7." (c) Bookshop Apocalypse BCE listing independently confirms 2-tone GRAY boards on the club edition. (d) Bauman, Sotheby's, First and Fine independently confirm signed-first premiums.
CORRECTIONS where draft disagreed with sources / over-corrected: (1) BCE GUTTER CODE — draft asserted "T7 (= Feb 1978)"; NO source supports T7. Documented club codes are "mp"-prefixed (mp6aa/mp6z/mp2y). Corrected. (2) "BOOK CLUB EDITION" PRINTED TEXT — the draft "corrected" the original to say club jackets DO print "Book Club Edition"; this is itself too strong. It VARIES: many SFBC copies are marked, but the BOMC ("mp"-code) variant has original cover art, no inside price, and does NOT say "Book Club Edition." Recorded the nuance; the reliable tells are no-printed-price + gray boards. (3) JACKET ARTIST — OVERTURNED 2026-08-04, and the earlier finding is quoted here rather than deleted so the failure stays legible. This pass had written: "confirmed 'Jim Phiesen' (Etsy 1521992511, Rare Book Cellar 172149); 'Fred Marcellino' remains unsupported." That is backwards. The jacket credits itself — "JACKET BY FRED MARCELLINO" at the rear-flap foot, read glyph-for-glyph on two unrelated copies (eBay 297796280211 and 277749781020) and carried on the Heritage S52 copy; the Marcellino estate catalogue lists the title under this edition's exact ISBN. HOW THE INVERSION HAPPENED, because the mechanism matters more than the name: both cited dealer sources are LATER PRINTINGS. Rare Book Cellar 172149 says "Fourteenth Printing" in its own listing title; the Etsy listing claims only "1978 Edition", never a first printing. Doubleday reprints retain the 1978 copyright date, so a search matching "Night Shift + 1978 + Phiesen" returns reprints that look like firsts, and the pass laundered a reprint's jacket credit onto the first — then stamped it "confirmed" and demoted the correct answer to "unsupported". The adversarial pass ratified the error instead of breaking it because it weighed dealer copy against the artifact. WHO "PHIESEN" IS: most probably a corrupted form of JIM THIESEN, a documented illustrator who painted Doubleday's c.1990 reissue jackets for King's first four titles (Carrie, 'Salem's Lot, The Shining, Night Shift) and who by his own account only began book covers in 1987 — he cannot have painted a 1978 jacket. RECORDED AS INFERENCE, NOT FACT: no document states that "Phiesen" is a misspelling of "Thiesen", and it remains possible the reissue jackets literally print "Phiesen" as a publisher's error, in which case the printed credit and the human being differ. Either way the name marks a c.1990 reissue and never a first. (3b) JACKET IMAGE — also wrong, and separately: the "bandage-wrapped hand with eyes" this record described is Don Brautigam's 1979 SIGNET PAPERBACK art. The 1978 Doubleday jacket carries no illustration at all. Our own published cover image was correct throughout; nobody had compared the prose to the plate. (4) MacDONALD = INTRODUCTION, KING = FOREWORD — re-confirmed (Very Fine Books, AbeBooks). (5) PRINT RUN — DISCREPANCY recorded, not resolved: "~1,500" (widely repeated, likely myth) vs "~12,000" (more commonly cited estimate). (6) NEW FIRST-STATE NUANCE added: the $8.95 price STICKER sub-state — Doubleday substituted some club/jacket stock and applied a printed price sticker; sticker-priced copies are still firsts (if S52 + "First Edition") but valued below printed-price copies. UNVERIFIED / FLAGGED (unchanged): draft's "die-cut holes revealing eyes" jacket description is NOT corroborated — standard 1978 jacket is a printed illustration; topstain/endpaper remain UNVERIFIED. Forum thread t721 and the stephenking.com PDF text-extraction returned 429/garbled via WebFetch, but t721 was readable via WebFetch (red boards/black quarter binding/tan DJ/MacDonald intro confirmed) and the PDF was read as a rendered image (table confirmed) — both load-bearing confirmations stand on rendered/primary reads, not on the failed text extractions.