11 Scribes · Stephen King & Bachman · Doubleday Era (1974-1983)

Pet Sematary Collectible

1983 · Doubleday & Company, Inc. (Garden City, New York)
First-edition cover of Pet Sematary
First-edition jacket (first (Wikipedia infobox)) · source

What it’s about

When Dr. Louis Creed moves his young family from Chicago to a rural house in Maine, a neighbor introduces them to a children's pet cemetery in the woods behind their property — and to the wilder, older burial ground that lies beyond it. As Louis grapples with the realities of mortality and a busy road that claims local animals, he is drawn toward the ancient ground's terrible promise. A meditation on grief, love, and how far a parent will go rather than let go.

Significance Widely cited as the novel King himself found too disturbing to publish at first; a cornerstone of his canon, twice adapted to film (1989 and 2019) and rooted in his Maine settings near the Castle Rock orbit.

Value$300–600 (true first, fine/fine, unclipped, unsigned); signed adds a large premium — $900–1,800+ confirmed salesnear-fine / fine

How to spot a true first 30-second check

★ BookGutter code — the Doubleday date code "Y38" near the inner margin at the foot of page 374. In the Doubleday system the letter is the print year (Y = 1983) and the number is the week of that year, so Y38 is the 38th week of 1983: the true first printing. The trailing "8" is buried in the binding gutter and is easily mis-read or overlooked (King's own guide warns to confirm it without damaging the spine). The first book-club edition carries a DIFFERENT code on a DIFFERENT page — N47 at the foot of page 372 — so the page itself is part of the tell. A later 1983 trade printing reads Y46 (the 46th week) and a documented BCE variant reads MP6Z on page 374; all of these still print "FIRST EDITION" on the copyright page, which is why the code, not the wording, is load-bearing.
★ JacketJacket price — the first-state trade jacket prints $15.95 in the upper corner of the front inner flap, with jacket code "1183" on the rear flap and the rear-panel "Caretakers" blurb dated 1982 (the uncorrected error state). The book-club jacket carries NO printed flap price at all and is the single most reliable club tell — but beware a club jacket that has been clipped to fake an absent price, so corroborate with the book's gutter code and binding. Note the two-tier nuance: the 1982-Caretakers jacket is the priority FIRST state; a 1983-Caretakers jacket is the CORRECTED second state. Both can be married to a Y38 first-printing book, but they are not co-equal — the 1982 error jacket is the premium first-state wrapper.

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.

CopyrightSays "FIRST EDITION" — necessary but NOT sufficient (later trade printings and BCEs carry similar wording); must pair with the Y38 code.
Number lineNone — Doubleday used an alphanumeric date code, not a number row. The "presence of a 1" rule does not apply here.
Gutter code ★ book tellY38 at foot of p.374, inner margin (verify the trailing 8 — it hides in the gutter). Y = 1983 print year, 38 = week 38, the true first. Y46 = a later 1983 printing (week 46); N47 on p.372 = BCE; MP6Z on p.374 = BCE.
Jacket price ★ jacket tell$15.95 on the front inner flap (upper corner); rear flap carries jacket code "1183". No flap price = book-club — but corroborate with the Y38 code + full cloth (a clip can fake an absent price either way).
BindingFull black cloth-covered boards (octavo, sewn, 6.25 x 9.5 x 1.25"), gilt-stamped. BCE is QUARTER black cloth over black paper boards.
Dust jacketLinda Fennimore art: snarling cat (Church) over a dark cemetery, dark-red sky, man carrying a child. Two jacket states: Caretakers 1982 = first state (error), 1983 = corrected second state.
Endpapers / edges—n/a
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 Gutter code book — Y38 at the foot of page 374, near the inner margin (year-letter Y = 1983, week 38). The trailing 8 hides in the binding gutter — confirm it gently.
  • Asserted Copyright page book — "FIRST EDITION" stated on the copyright page — necessary but NOT sufficient (later trade printings and the BCE carry the same wording); it must pair with the Y38 code.
  • Asserted Binding book — Full black cloth-covered boards, octavo (6.25 x 9.5 x 1.25 in), sewn, gilt-stamped (gilt title on spine, gilt King signature on the front board), 373 pp, scarlet endpapers. ISBN 0-385-18244-9 (ISBN-13 978-0-385-18244-7).
  • Verified Jacket price jacket — $15.95 in the upper corner of the front inner flap; rear flap carries jacket code "1183".
  • Asserted Jacket back-panel state jacket — First-STATE jacket dates Tabitha King's "Caretakers" as 1982 on the rear panel (the uncorrected error). The 1983-Caretakers jacket is the corrected SECOND state — genuine but secondary; the 1982 is the premium first state.
  • Asserted Jacket art jacket — Linda Fennimore art: the snarling cat (Church) over a dark cemetery, dark-red sky, a man carrying a child.

Disqualifies it — book-club or later

  • Asserted Gutter code N47 on p.372 — Code N47 at the foot of PAGE 372 (not 374) is the first book-club edition. Wrong code, wrong page — a BCE, not a first.
  • Asserted Gutter code MP6Z on p.374 — A documented book-club code MP6Z on page 374 is a BCE, not a trade first, despite sharing the page number with the Y38 first.
  • Asserted Gutter code Y46 on p.374 — Y46 is the 46th week of 1983 — a LATER printing of the 1983 run, not the first printing. Sellers correctly catalogue these as "1st edition, later printing."
  • Asserted Quarter-cloth binding / small trim — Quarter black cloth over black paper-covered boards, with a smaller trim than the trade edition, is the book-club edition. The trade first is FULL black cloth.
  • Asserted No price on the front flap — A jacket with no printed flap price (and often a 5-to-7-digit number on the rear) is a book-club jacket — the most reliable club tell, unless the absence is a deliberate clip faking a trade jacket.
  • Asserted Higher jacket price ($19.95) — A higher printed flap price (e.g. $19.95) belongs to a later printing, not the $15.95 first.

Proves nothing — shared traps

  • Shared "FIRST EDITION" on the copyright page — The copyright statement is SHARED — later trade printings (Y46) and book-club editions both print "FIRST EDITION," so the wording alone proves nothing. Only the Y38/p.374 code distinguishes the true first.
  • Shared Page 374 location — Page 374 is shared between the Y38 first and a documented BCE (MP6Z) — so the page alone is not enough; the CODE on that page is what decides.
  • Shared Doubleday date-code format — Every printing in the 1983 run shares the Y-letter (year 1983); only the week number (38 vs 46) separates first from later, so reading just the letter is insufficient.
  • Shared Black cloth / gilt spine — Black cloth and gilt spine lettering are shared in spirit — the BCE is also black-clothed and gilt-lettered. The decisive difference is FULL cloth (trade) vs QUARTER cloth over paper boards (BCE) and the smaller club trim.

What to look for

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.

Seller’s photo of this copy
✓ 1st/1st confirmed$112.50fairfieldsbooks ↗
Strong buy Near Fine book / VG jacket

A Doubleday trade issue with a tell photographed on each side — the "FIRST EDITION" copyright page and full black-cloth gilt binding on the book, the unclipped $15.95 flap and the 1982-Caretakers rear panel on the jacket — but the gutter code shows only its "Y" before the digits disappear into the binding, leaving Y38 unseparated from the later Y46.

✓ Confirmed in the seller’s photos
  • Copyright — The copyright page reads "FIRST EDITION" at the foot beneath "PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA", with Copyright © 1983 by Stephen King, ISBN 0-385-18244-9 and LC Catalog Card Number 82-45360 (photo 6) — necessary for the first but not sufficient, as later trade printings and the club carry similar wording.
  • Gutter code (year-letter only) — A capital "Y" is printed at the foot of the gutter margin on the Epilogue's closing page, below "—February 1979–December 1982" (photo 4, enlarged), which rules out the documented book-club codes (N47 / MP6Z) but cannot separate Y38 from the later Y46.
  • Jacket price — "P.S. $15.95" is printed at the head of the front flap, present and unclipped, the flap corner square (photo 8).
  • Dust jacket — The rear-panel bio reads "...and, in 1982, of Caretakers" — the earlier first-state wrapper — the year resolving only under high enlargement of photo 1; photo 2 shows the same sentence, but at that frame's resolution the year digits blur out.
  • Jacket credit code — The rear inner flap prints "JACKET BY LINDA FENNIMORE / Printed in the U.S.A. / 1183" (photo 3).
  • Binding — Full black cloth running to all board edges, gilt spine lettering, gilt King facsimile signature on the front board and "Doubleday" at the spine foot (photos 9, 10) — not the book club's quarter-cloth-over-paper-boards structure.
  • Title page — The title page reads DOUBLEDAY & COMPANY, INC. / GARDEN CITY, NEW YORK / 1983 (photo 5).
⚠ Not pictured — ask before buying
  • Gutter code digits — Only the "Y" clears the binding — the characters after it are swallowed by the gutter and do not resolve at any enlargement, and both Y38 (the true first) and Y46 (a later 1983 printing) begin with Y, so although the listing's title and description assert "Y3", no photograph shows it: ask for a close macro of the foot of p.374's inner margin with the book pressed flat so all three characters read.
Seller’s photo of this copy
likely first$54.95mr.witten ↗
Fair Near Fine book / VG (VG-) jacket

Genuine NF first in a chipped VG- 1982-Caretakers jacket; at $54.95 it sits well under a conservative ~$175-275 value.

✓ Confirmed in the seller’s photos
  • Gutter code Y38 — Macro (photo 11) shows the p.374 inner-margin code reading 'Y3-', the trailing 8 buried in the gutter exactly as the King PDF warns — the decisive first tell.
  • Copyright — Copyright page states 'FIRST EDITION' (photo 8): (c) 1983, ISBN 0-385-18244-9, LCCN 82-45360 — correct Doubleday trade-first plate.
  • Jacket price — $15.95 first-state flap present and unclipped (photos 6,7); any printed flap price rules out the no-price BCE.
  • Binding — Full black cloth boards (photo 3), DOUBLEDAY at spine foot (photo 5) — trade-first structure, not the quarter-cloth BCE.
  • Dust jacket — Rear bio cites Tabitha King's 'Caretakers' (1982) — the earlier, more desirable 1982-Caretakers first-state wrapper.
⚠ Not pictured — ask before buying
  • Jacket spine-end condition — Notes flag heavy chipping and loss at the jacket spine head and tail (photos 0,5) — ask for close-ups to grade the value-capping damage.
Seller’s photo of this copy
likely first$59.99noventa ↗
Fair VG+ book / VG jacket (as pictured, pending in-hand)

A Doubleday trade issue whose jacket side is fully proven — unclipped $15.95 flap and a legible 1982-Caretakers rear panel — over a full black-cloth gilt binding and a clean "FIRST EDITION" copyright page, but no frame shows the gutter code, so a Y38 first cannot be separated from a later 1983 trade printing.

✓ Confirmed in the seller’s photos
  • Copyright — The copyright page reads "FIRST EDITION" at the foot, with Copyright © 1983 by Stephen King, ISBN 0-385-18244-9 and LC Catalog Card Number 82-45360 (photo 3) — necessary but not sufficient on its own.
  • Jacket price — "P.S. $15.95" is printed at the head of the front flap, present and unclipped (photo 7, and again at the flap edge in photo 8).
  • Dust jacket — The rear panel's bio line reads "and, in 1982, of Caretakers" — legible without straining under enlargement — with ISBN 0-385-18244-9 beneath the title, so this is the earlier first-state wrapper (photo 9).
  • Binding — Full black cloth boards carrying the gilt King facsimile signature on the front board, with gilt spine lettering and "Doubleday" at the spine foot (photos 1, 8) — excluding the quarter-cloth book-club binding.
  • Endpapers — Bright red-orange coated endpapers show with the front cover opened (photo 7); consistent with the trade issue, though endpaper colour is not a first-printing tell on this title.
⚠ Not pictured — ask before buying
  • Gutter code — Not one of the ten frames shows p.374, so the decisive Y38 code is entirely unphotographed — ask for a close, flat macro of the foot of the inner margin on the last text page, the one closing "—February 1979–December 1982".
Seller’s photo of this copy
likely first$69.99nwbookrescue ↗
Fair VG+ book / VG jacket

A Doubleday trade issue whose copyright page, title page, red-orange endpapers, 1183 Fennimore jacket code and 1982-Caretakers rear panel are all legibly photographed — but the front flap is pictured at full height carrying no printed price at all, which on this title is the book-club tell, and neither the Y38 gutter code nor the boards jacket-off is shown to settle it either way.

✓ Confirmed in the seller’s photos
  • Copyright — The copyright page reads "FIRST EDITION" at the foot, with Copyright © 1983 by Stephen King, ISBN 0-385-18244-9 and LC Catalog Card Number 82-45360 (photo 4) — necessary but not sufficient, since the club edition carries similar wording.
  • Title page — The title page reads DOUBLEDAY & COMPANY, INC. / GARDEN CITY, NEW YORK / 1983 (photo 3).
  • Dust jacket — The rear panel's bio line reads "and, in 1982, of Caretakers", clearly legible, with ISBN 0-385-18244-9 at the panel foot — the earlier first-state wrapper (photo 9).
  • Jacket credit code — The rear inner flap prints "JACKET BY LINDA FENNIMORE / Printed in the U.S.A. / 1183" (photo 8).
  • Endpapers — Bright red-orange coated endpapers show at both front and rear (photos 1, 8); consistent with the trade issue, though endpaper colour is not a first-printing tell on this title.
  • Book-club code excluded (p.372) — Page 372 is shown whole with its foot and inner margin clear of any "N47" (photo 7, enlarged at the gutter), which argues against the first book-club printing — an exclusion only, not positive proof of the first, and the innermost sliver of that margin still curves into the fold.
⚠ Not pictured — ask before buying
  • Jacket price — The front flap is pictured at full height in photo 1 — properly exposed (no blown highlights anywhere in the frame), in focus, corner squared, its proportions matching the untrimmed rear flap in photo 8 — and the head where "P.S. $15.95" is printed on this title reads completely blank, so this is an affirmatively unpriced flap rather than a photography gap, and an unpriced flap is the book-club tell here: ask for a straight-on shot of the flap head, and for the two book-side tells below, to settle whether this is a club jacket or a trade jacket trimmed at the head.
  • Gutter code — No frame shows p.374, so the decisive Y38 code is entirely unphotographed — ask for a flat, close macro of the foot of the inner margin on the Epilogue's last page, the one closing "—February 1979–December 1982".
  • Binding — The boards are never shown with the jacket off — only a black cloth turn-in at the spine appears (photos 1, 8), and the book club is cloth-backed there too — so ask for the front board jacket-free, showing cloth running to the board edges and the gilt King facsimile signature.
Seller’s photo of this copy
likely first$110.46shopfatcatresale ↗
Fair Near Fine book / VG to VG+ jacket (price-stickered, not clipped)

Trade first in the desirable 1982 jacket (B&N sticker, not clipped); $98 sits comfortably under fair value.

✓ Confirmed in the seller’s photos
  • Copyright — Copyright page states 'FIRST EDITION', (c) 1983 by Stephen King, ISBN 0-385-18244-9 (photo 4); title page Doubleday, Garden City, 1983 (photo 7).
  • Jacket price — Front flap carries printed '$15.95' unclipped (photo 5) — correct first price; its presence rules out the no-price BCE flap.
  • Binding — Full black cloth boards, gilt King facsimile signature on front board, gilt spine (photos 8,9) — trade-first, not quarter-cloth BCE.
  • Dust jacket — Rear panel reads Tabitha King 'in 1982, of Caretakers'; rear flap 'LINDA FENNIMORE / 1183' — the desirable 1982 first-state wrapper.
⚠ Not pictured — ask before buying
  • Gutter code Y38 — Only a bare 'Y' is legible in the gutter near p.374 (photo 3); the '3' that separates Y38 from later Y46 is obscured — ask for a sharper macro.
  • Front-panel B&N sticker — A B&N re-price sticker sits over the original price on the front panel (photos 10,12) — a removal/residue risk; ask for a close-up of that corner.
Seller’s photo of this copy
likely first$295twism0120 ↗
Negotiate VG+ to Near Fine book / VG to VG+ jacket (unclipped)

Strong VG+/NF first in the desirable unclipped 1982 jacket; only the full Y38 is unread — $295 sits at or just under fair.

✓ Confirmed in the seller’s photos
  • Copyright — Copyright page states 'FIRST EDITION' (photo 2), ISBN 0-385-18244-9, LCCN 82-45360, (c) 1983; title page Doubleday, Garden City, 1983 (photo 1).
  • Jacket price — Front flap printed with first price $15.95, unclipped (photo 3) — a printed flap price rules out the Doubleday BCE.
  • Binding — Full black cloth binding with red endpapers (photos 3,7,8) — trade-first structure, not the quarter-cloth BCE.
  • Dust jacket — Correct Fennimore cat art; rear flap 'LINDA FENNIMORE / 1183' and 'Caretakers 1982' rear-panel bio — the desirable first-state wrapper (photos 5,6).
⚠ Not pictured — ask before buying
  • Gutter code Y38 — P.374 shows only a bare 'Y' at the foot, the rest buried in the binding (photo 4); the '3' that confirms Y38 over Y46 isn't legible — ask for a sharper macro.
Seller’s photo of this copy
cover only — verify$99.99pacho362 ↗
Pass Near Fine book / VG+ jacket

Genuine NF first, but an ink inscription and unconfirmed jacket state pull it to ~$175-275; $99.99 still sits well under.

✓ Confirmed in the seller’s photos
  • Copyright — Copyright page states 'FIRST EDITION' (photos 6/7), (c) 1983, ISBN 0-385-18244-9, LCCN 82-45360; title page Doubleday, Garden City, 1983.
  • Binding — Full black cloth boards, gilt King signature on rear board, gilt spine and 'Doubleday' at spine foot — trade-first, not quarter-cloth BCE.
  • Dust jacket — Correct first-state Linda Fennimore green-eyed cat jacket art matching the rear panel.
⚠ Not pictured — ask before buying
  • Gutter code Y38 — Only a partial 'Y' is visible at the foot of the last text page; the '3' needed to beat the later Y46 isn't legible — ask for a sharper p.374 macro.
  • Jacket price — Front-flap $15.95 not legibly photographed, so clipped/unclipped is unconfirmed — ask the seller for a flap shot.
  • Dust jacket state — Caretakers 1982-vs-1983 wrapper state not shown; ask for the rear-panel bio line to confirm the more-desirable 1982 state.
  • Endpaper inscription — Notes flag a named ink inscription ('Nancy B. Hoover') on the front free endpaper — a value-reducer; request a clear shot.
cover only — verify$225James Graham Bookseller ↗
Pass Near Fine book / Very Good+ jacket (seller-stated; spine just faded, light spine-end wear, mylar-wrapped)

A single cover shot shows the right jacket but proves no first-printing tell — needs the copyright plate, Y38, flap and rear board.

✓ Confirmed in the seller’s photos
  • Dust jacket — Correct US Doubleday first-edition cat-and-cemetery jacket art; spine reads STEPHEN KING / PET SEMATARY with DOUBLEDAY at the foot.
⚠ Not pictured — ask before buying
  • Copyright — Only one cover photo exists; the copyright-page 'FIRST EDITION' statement is not shown — ask for a title-verso shot.
  • Gutter code Y38 — The decisive Y38 code at p.374 is not photographed — request a macro of the inner margin.
  • Jacket price — No flap shown; seller says unclipped in text, but the $15.95 price is unverified — ask for a front-flap photo.
  • Binding — Black cloth + gilt under the jacket and the rear board (the BCE blind-stamp tell) aren't shown — request both to rule out a Book Club Edition.
cover only — verify$240Mattabesset Books ↗
Pass Near Fine book / Very Good+ jacket (seller-stated; first-issue wrapper, mylar-protected)

Binding and first-issue jacket check out, but the copyright page and Y38 were never shot — needs the plate before it's a confirmed first.

✓ Confirmed in the seller’s photos
  • Binding — Full black cloth boards, gilt King facsimile signature on front board (photo 4); black-cloth spine with gilt title (photo 5) — trade-first structure.
  • Dust jacket — Correct Doubleday first-issue pictorial cat jacket, DOUBLEDAY at spine foot (photo 2); rear panel ISBN 0-385-18244-9 and 'in 1982, of Caretakers' (photo 3).
⚠ Not pictured — ask before buying
  • Copyright — No photo shows the copyright page or its stated 'FIRST EDITION' line — ask the seller for a title-verso shot.
  • Gutter code Y38 — The decisive Y38 code at the foot of p.374 was not photographed — request a macro of the inner margin to beat the BCE/Y46.
  • Jacket price — Front-flap $15.95 not shown; unclipped is text-claimed only — ask for a flap photo to verify.
cover only — verify$395Do Electric Sheep dream of books ↗
Pass Near Fine book / Near Fine jacket (seller-stated; slight top-edge foxing, minor DJ shelf wear)

Right jacket and ISBN, but every decisive interior tell is unshot at $395 — needs the copyright plate, Y38 and the priced flap.

✓ Confirmed in the seller’s photos
  • Dust jacket — Correct front cat art ('BY THE AUTHOR OF THE SHINING AND CHRISTINE') and rear-panel ISBN 0-385-18244-9 — the right Doubleday jacket.
  • Binding — Black cloth boards visible at the spine foot (consistent with the true first); tight binding with slight top-edge foxing as described.
⚠ Not pictured — ask before buying
  • Copyright — No copyright-page photo — the stated 'FIRST EDITION' line is not shown; ask for a title-verso shot.
  • Gutter code Y38 — The decisive Y38 code at p.374 is not photographed — request a macro of the inner margin.
  • Jacket price — No flap shown, so the $15.95 price can't be confirmed present or clipped — ask for a front-flap photo.
photos unclear$249.50Pat Cramer Bookseller ↗
Pass Fine book / chipped Very Good first-state jacket (seller-stated only; no actual photos)

No photos of the actual book exist (seller admits the image isn't his copy) — everything is testimony; get real plate/flap shots first.

⚠ Not pictured — ask before buying
  • Actual-copy photos — Seller states the displayed image is NOT this copy ('Pictures upon request'); the only images are stock — nothing of the real book is shown.
  • Copyright — No photo of the copyright-page 'FIRST EDITION' statement — request a title-verso shot before treating as a first.
  • Gutter code Y38 — The decisive Y38 code at p.374 is unphotographed — request a macro of the inner margin.
  • Jacket price — The unclipped $15.95 first-state flap is text-claimed only; ask for a flap photo to verify the '1982 mistake' state.
  • Binding — Black-cloth gilt binding not shown, and no rear board to check the BCE blind-stamp — request both.
Full identification detail & sourcescopyright · jacket · binding · book-club traps · print run · value · references
Is this the true first?Yes. The Doubleday trade hardcover (Nov. 14, 1983) is the true first edition, first printing — a straightforward trade hardcover first with a large ~250,000-copy first print run. No preceding small-press limited, no paperback original. It was King's last book published by Doubleday, written to satisfy a contractual obligation during a period when King and Doubleday were on hostile terms.
The Doubleday 1983 trade hardcover IS the true first. No contemporaneous Donald M. Grant / Philtrum / Land of Enchantment limited precedes it (verified against the official stephenking.com identifying-firsts PDF, read verbatim — it lists NO limited-edition publisher in brackets for Pet Sematary, unlike adjacent titles such as Cycle of the Werewolf [Land of Enchantment]). Cemetery Dance and Suntup Editions later produced deluxe/lettered fine-press editions, but those are 21st-century reprints, NOT the first edition. The UK first (Hodder & Stoughton, 1983) followed the US printing and is not the true first.

First-printing points at a glance

First-printing statementThe copyright page states "FIRST EDITION" (consistent with all early Doubleday-era King titles). A true first carries BOTH: (1) the words "FIRST EDITION" on the copyright page AND (2) the Doubleday gutter/date code "Y38" near the inner margin at the foot of PAGE 374. Both must be present. Because the "First Edition" statement alone is not decisive (later trade printings can carry similar CP wording, and BCEs differ chiefly by binding/code/page rather than CP wording), the Y38 code is the load-bearing book point. CONFIRMED VERBATIM by the official stephenking.com PDF (downloaded and read directly, not via search snippet): Pet Sematary — "First Edition" on CP, "Y38 on page 374 (see note below)." The PDF's note warns the code is partially obscured in the binding: "Be careful to avoid damaging the book when confirming the presence of the 8 in 'Y38'."
Number lineNo conventional printed number line. Doubleday identified the printing via the alphanumeric gutter/date code, not a number row. The presence of "Y38" on p. 374 (plus stated "FIRST EDITION" on the CP) marks the first printing; a later 1983 printing carries a DIFFERENT date code (e.g., Y46 — the 46th week of 1983 vs the first's week 38 — still printing "FIRST EDITION" but NOT the first printing), and book-club editions carry their own codes on a DIFFERENT page (e.g., "N47" on PAGE 372 for the first BCE printing; "MP6Z" on page 374 documented on another BCE). The general Doubleday "presence of a 1 in the number line" rule does NOT apply to this title — the date code is the printing identifier.
Gutter / printer codeY38 (on page 374, near inner margin at foot; partially obscured in the binding per the official PDF — verify the trailing "8" carefully). In the Doubleday system the letter is the print YEAR (Y = 1983) and the number is the WEEK of that year, so Y38 is the 38th week of 1983: the true first printing. A later 1983 printing reads Y46 (week 46 of the same 1983 year — still "FIRST EDITION," but NOT the first printing). First book-club printing: N47 on PAGE 372 (note the different page). Another documented BCE code: MP6Z on page 374.
First printing — copies~250,000 copies (commonly cited first-printing figure) accepted figure
First jacket price$15.95 (Front flap of the dust jacket (front inner flap, upper corner). A first-state jacket also carries the printer/jacket code "1183" on the rear flap.)
Board (panel) colorBlack cloth-covered boards (full cloth), lettered/stamped in gilt. Confirmed full black cloth by Very Fine Books ("Full bound in black cloth"). Contrast: the first BOOK CLUB edition is QUARTER black cloth over black paper-covered boards (Dan Pope Books) — a structural binding tell, NOT full cloth.
Spine / center bindingBlack cloth spine, title and author stamped in gilt. Full black cloth binding throughout (not quarter-bound or two-tone) on the trade first. (Note: the BCE is quarter black cloth with gilt spine lettering over black paper boards — visually similar at the spine but quarter- rather than full-cloth.)
Binding styleFull-cloth binding (black cloth, not quarter-bound/two-tone), sewn, octavo. Official trim size 6¼ x 9½ x 1¼" (per stephenking.com PDF). ~373 pp. text; the date code sits at the foot of p. 374. Book-club editions are a smaller trim, quarter cloth over paper boards, typically glued/thinner stock.
Topstain / endpapersNo notable colored topstain reported (plain). Endpapers plain. Topstain/endpaper specifics beyond "plain" remain UNVERIFIED against a single authoritative bibliographic source.

Dust jacket

Front panel: the iconic Linda Fennimore illustration — a shrieking/snarling cat's face (Church) above a montage of a dimmed, silhouetted cemetery under a very dark red sky, with a man carrying a small child walking toward the graves; title and author name set above the art. Rear panel carries the blurb/excerpt text bearing the telltale "Caretakers" date line — 1982 in the FIRST state (the uncorrected error), 1983 in the corrected SECOND state. Front flap carries the $15.95 price; rear flap carries jacket code "1183" (re-confirmed by Very Fine Books, which lists "DJ Code 1183").

Art / design: Linda Fennimore (illustrator). Commissioned by Doubleday's art director: a "screaming cat's face" montage over a darkened cemetery with a dark-red sky and a figure carrying a small child toward the graves. Fennimore was a Juilliard-trained pianist turned book-jacket/album-cover/Broadway-poster artist. (King reportedly did not weigh in on the cover but was pleased with the result.)

reference photohttps://veryfinebooks.com/stephen-king-pet-sematary-first-edition-first-printing/reference photohttps://thefirstedition.com/product/pet-sematary-3/reference photohttps://www.stephenkingcollector.com/1st/petsematary.html
Book-club edition & fakes — how to spot a wrong copyDoubleday Book Club Edition tells for this title: (1) NO printed price on the front jacket flap — the single most reliable BCE tell per the official King PDF ("Book Club edition dust jackets are easily identified because they do not have a price marked inside the front cover"); confirmed on real BCE listings (First Edition Rare Books: "lacking retail price on front flap"). CAVEAT: do NOT read the no-price tell in isolation — a club jacket can be CLIPPED to fake an absent price, and a clipped trade jacket can mask the $15.95; corroborate the absent price with the BOOK's gutter code (Y38/p.374) and the binding (full vs quarter cloth). (2) QUARTER black cloth over black paper-covered boards with gilt spine lettering — STRUCTURALLY different from the trade first's FULL black cloth (Dan Pope Books). (3) A DIFFERENT gutter/date code on a DIFFERENT page: the first BCE printing reads "N47" on PAGE 372 (not the trade's "Y38" on p. 374); another BCE shows "MP6Z" on p. 374. (4) Smaller trim than the trade hardcover. (5) Sometimes a blind-stamp dot/square on the lower-right rear board (not always present). NOTE: a BCE jacket is sometimes placed on a trade first to replace a damaged one — so check the BOOK's code/page and binding structure (full vs quarter cloth), not just the jacket.

Also watch for: Married jackets — a later-state, BCE, or facsimile jacket on a first-printing book, OR a first-state ("Caretakers 1982" / "1183") jacket placed on a later-printing book (e.g., a Y46 later 1983 printing): always confirm the jacket matches a Y38 book. Price-clipped jackets (corner cut to hide $15.95 — lowers value and can mask a club jacket whose flap never had a price; the clip trap cuts both ways, so never read an absent flap price alone — corroborate with the Y38 code and full-vs-quarter cloth). BCE sold as "first" (no flap price + N47-on-p.372 [or other] gutter code + quarter-cloth binding = club). Facsimile/reproduction jackets (the thin Doubleday jacket stock chips easily, so repros circulate). Later 1983 printings (Y46 etc.) misrepresented as firsts. Ex-library copies and bottom-edge remainder/spray marks. ALWAYS confirm BOTH "FIRST EDITION" on the copyright page AND "Y38" on page 374 — and verify the trailing 8 in Y38, which hides in the gutter.

Print run & scarcity

By 1983 King was a top-tier bestselling author, so Doubleday ran a deliberately large first printing — the ~250,000 figure recurs across dealer listings and collector references. This large run is precisely why a genuine trade first is plentiful and modestly priced relative to King's scarcer 1970s firsts (Carrie, 'Salem's Lot, The Shining). Treat the 250k figure as the consensus collector/dealer number rather than a Doubleday-audited production statement; no per-printing breakdown from the publisher is publicly verified, so the exact figure should be cited as approximate.

First-state points & errata

Per the official stephenking.com identifying-firsts PDF (verbatim), the first edition exists in TWO dust-jacket states, distinguished by the "Caretakers" copyright date printed in the rear-panel blurb/excerpt: (1) "Caretakers listed as 1982" — the FIRST state (the uncorrected error) — and (2) "Caretakers listed as 1983" — the CORRECTED SECOND state. Both are genuine first-edition jackets and both belong on a Y38 first-printing book, so this is a JACKET-state distinction, NOT a first-vs-later-printing distinction — but they are NOT co-equal. The 1982-Caretakers wrapper is the priority first state; the 1983-Caretakers wrapper is the corrected second state — genuine but secondary. Dealers (First and Fine, Red Herring Books, Second Story Books) call the 1982 the "first state wrapper" and price it at a premium; a Y38 book in the 1983-Caretakers jacket is still a true first, just in the secondary jacket state. Primary sources (King PDF order; Second Story Books; Red Herring Books) are clear on the ranking: 1982 = first state (error), 1983 = corrected second state. The decisive PRINTING point remains the Y38 gutter code on p. 374 (plus stated "FIRST EDITION"); the book block itself has no separately documented first-state-only text errata beyond the Y38 code.

Limited & signed editions

No contemporaneous 1983 signed/limited; Doubleday issued only the trade hardcover (slipcased copies on the market are dealer/custom-made, not publisher-issued). Modern fine-press limiteds came decades later: Cemetery Dance Publications deluxe/special edition (signed/limited/lettered, traycased) and Suntup Editions (Artist/Numbered/Lettered states, using Linda Fennimore's art) — all 21st-century, NOT first editions.

Market value confirmed sales

$300–600 (true first, fine/fine, unclipped, unsigned); signed adds a large premium — $900–1,800+

Assumes a genuine first edition / first printing in near-fine to fine condition (clean copy, unclipped jacket). Lesser condition is worth less.

Confirmed sales: Signed first edition/first printing — Nate D. Sanders Auctions, ~$732 (auction blog record, recent). Unsigned US first, sold on eBay ~$250 (completed listing, April). Unsigned first, fine/near-fine+ DJ unclipped in slipcase — VeryFineBooks dealer at $395 (out of stock / sold-through). Signed/first-state-DJ copies catalogued by Second Story Books and Bauman in the four-figure asking range (dealer retail, not auction). Unsigned US trade first — VG book / VG+ unclipped jacket (cat art bright, gilt crisp, sound cloth; decidedly not fine/fine) — sold on eBay $150 (fixed-price, no Best Offer; 2026-07), a condition-appropriate low-end anchor below the fine/fine band.

Book-club edition (the trap): $15–40. Book Club Editions (BCE/BOMC) are extremely common and near-worthless: smaller boards, NO printed price on the front jacket flap, a 5–7 digit number on the rear DJ panel, and a different gutter code (N47/Y49 etc., NOT Y38). These are the copies constantly mislisted as "first edition." — a fraction of a true first; never pay first-edition money for one.

Condition-driven: the binding is sturdy and survives Fine often, so the DUST JACKET (unclipped, no chips/tanning) and the slipcase (when present) drive nearly all the value — a clipped or facsimile/married jacket cuts a true first to BCE-money. Signed lifts it sharply (Nate D. Sanders ~$732 vs. ~$250–395 unsigned); a dated inscription or association copy more so. THE #1 SEPARATOR for this title: confirm the gutter code "Y38" on page 374 AND the $15.95 price printed on the front jacket flap. BCEs have no jacket price and a different code; later trade printings change the rear-flap "Caretakers" date from 1982 to 1983. No book-club blind-stamp on the rear board. Because the first printing was huge (~250k), this is one of King's more affordable major firsts — premium money requires Fine/Fine + unclipped + ideally signed.

Value sources:

Sources

Verification notes: SECOND adversarial pass. The canonical stephenking.com PDF was downloaded and READ VERBATIM via local pdftotext (prior pass relied on a snippet); verbatim text for Pet Sematary: trim 6¼ x 9½ x 1¼"; DJ price $15.95; "'First Edition' on CP"; "Y38 on page 374 (see note below)"; "Two dust jacket states: 1) Caretakers listed as 1982, 2) Caretakers listed as 1983"; note: "For Pet Sematary, the code is partially obscured in the binding. Be careful... when confirming the presence of the 8 in 'Y38'"; and the BCE rule "Book Club edition dust jackets are easily identified because they do not have a price marked inside the front cover." DRAFT CORRECTED #1 (BCE code PAGE): draft said the BCE "N47" code is on page 374 — WRONG. Independent BCE listing (Dan Pope Books) places "N47 on page 372" (first BCE printing); a separate BCE shows "MP6Z on page 374." So the BCE code lives on a DIFFERENT page (372) than the trade Y38 (374) for the first-BCE case. DRAFT CORRECTED #2 (BINDING STRUCTURE — new BCE tell the draft missed): the trade first is FULL black cloth (Very Fine Books: "Full bound in black cloth"); the first BCE is QUARTER black cloth over black paper-covered boards (Dan Pope Books) — a structural tell stronger than the draft's "smaller trim / glued" alone. DRAFT CORRECTED #3 (jacket-state framing): 1982/1983 Caretakers are two JACKET states of the SAME first edition, not first-vs-later printing. NEW INDEPENDENT SOURCES added this pass and NOT in the draft: First and Fine (firstandfine.com — Y38 p374 + first-state 1982 wrapper $15.95), Dan Pope Books BCE (AbeBooks 32284478124 — N47 p372 + quarter-cloth binding), eBay/WorthPoint listings (Y38/$15.95/1183 — returned 403/timeout to direct fetch but corroborated via search extracts), and the BCE on thefirstedition.com/pet-sematary-4 (MP6Z p374, no flap price). Could NOT independently re-verify exact topstain/endpaper color (left UNVERIFIED) and value bands remain dealer-listing estimates. The draft's $15.95, Y38, 1183, Linda Fennimore, ~250k run, and full-black-cloth trade binding all re-confirmed.

confidence: High — the four load-bearing points (stated "FIRST EDITION" on the copyright page, gutter code "Y38" on p. 374, $15.95 front-flap price, two documented jacket states "Caretakers 1982"/"1983") are corroborated directly by the CANONICAL authority — the official stephenking.com "Identifying first editions" PDF, downloaded and READ VERBATIM this pass (not merely via search snippet) — AND by independent dealers (Very Fine Books, First and Fine, Dan Pope Books, First Edition Rare Books). Full black cloth (trade) vs quarter cloth (BCE) and the BCE "N47 on page 372" code are independently confirmed. Jacket artist (Linda Fennimore) and ~250,000-copy first run confirmed. Lower-confidence: exact topstain/endpaper color (plain assumed, UNVERIFIED) and precise current value bands (estimated from listings, not a single dedicated price guide).
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