The Talisman Common
What it’s about
Twelve-year-old Jack Sawyer sets out from a fading New Hampshire resort town on a desperate cross-country quest to save his dying mother. Guided by an old Black handyman's cryptic instructions, he learns to "flip" between our world and the Territories, a parallel medieval realm where every person has a "Twinner" and his journey runs in eerie parallel. To win his mother's life he must reach a far-off place and claim the Talisman, all while pursued by forces that want him stopped.
Significance A landmark dark-fantasy collaboration between Stephen King and Peter Straub (sequel: Black House, 2001), it is woven into King's Dark Tower mythos and was a #1 bestseller.
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.
What to look for
- Copyright page must end on "Designed by Ann Gold" with no printing line — that's THE first-printing test.
- Any "[Ordinal] Printing" line replacing "Designed by Ann Gold" (e.g. "Second Printing, November 1984") = NOT a first.
- The joint "Viking · G.P. Putnam's Sons" imprint appears on ALL printings — it does NOT prove a first.
- Unclipped jacket shows $18.95 at flap top AND code 11182584 at the flap foot; a clip or missing code is a red flag.
- BCE trap: blind-stamp on lower rear board, smaller trim, no headbands, "Book Club Edition" flap with no price/code.
- The Grant signed/limited two-volume illustrated set came AFTER the trade — a deluxe collectible, not the precedence first.
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.
A Viking trade copy whose copyright statement and first-state jacket art are photographed, but the frame stops short of the copyright page's decisive last line and no flap is shown at all — the two points that would settle the book and the jacket independently.
- Copyright — Photo 2 shows the upper two-thirds of the copyright page reading "First published in 1984 by Viking Penguin Inc. / Published simultaneously in Canada," with the Donald M. Grant limited-edition note and ISBN 0-670-69199-2 beneath it.
- Dust jacket — Photo 0 shows the correct first-state Neil Stuart shattered-starburst art in red, orange and yellow on black.
- Copyright (decisive last line) — Photo 2 cuts off at the first line of the acknowledgments, so the page foot — where a first printing ends on "Designed by Ann Gold" and a later printing overwrites it with a printing statement — was never pictured; ask for a straight-on shot of the BOTTOM third of the copyright page showing the final colophon lines.
- Jacket price — No flap of any kind is photographed in the three frames, so the $18.95 at the flap top and the 11182584 code at the flap foot are unseen; ask for one shot of the whole front flap, top edge to foot.
- Binding — The jacket is never removed in any of the three frames, so the black paper boards, red cloth spine and gilt spine titling are unverified; ask for a jacket-off shot of the front board and spine.
A hard-worn copy but the best-documented of the lot — the copyright page's decisive "Designed by Ann Gold" last line and the unclipped $18.95 front flap are both legibly photographed and the binding is shown jacket-off, so nothing bearing on edition is outstanding.
- Copyright — Photo 15 shows the complete copyright page: "First published in 1984 by Viking Penguin Inc.," no printing statement anywhere, and the page's LAST line reading "Designed by Ann Gold" — the decisive first-printing test.
- Number line — Photo 15 has the whole page in frame and shows no number line; the ISBN 0-670-69199-2 line runs straight into the acknowledgments and then the Donnelley / Set in Garamond colophon.
- Jacket price — Photo 4 shows the front-flap top reading "ISBN 0-670-69199-2 FPT>$18.95" — the first-state price, present and unclipped.
- Binding — Photos 7, 8 and 10 show the book jacket-off: black paper boards with a red cloth quarter-spine, gilt "The Talisman" / STEPHEN KING / PETER STRAUB and VIKING at the spine foot, and a plain rear board carrying no book-club blind stamp; photo 12 measures the full-trim block at roughly 6¼ inches against the seller's ruler.
- Dust jacket — Photo 3 shows the full Neil Stuart art and photo 1 the rear flap — "Jacket design © Neil Stuart, 1984 / Jacket lettering by David Gatti" over "VIKING PENGUIN INC., 40 West 23rd Street, New York, N.Y. 10010 / Printed in U.S.A." — with no "Book Club Edition" slug.
✓ Decisive marker pictured — nothing outstanding to request.
The unclipped first-state $18.95 flap is plainly photographed and the copyright statement reads correctly, but the copyright page's decisive last line is cropped away and the flap-foot code, though printed in the right place, is too soft to be read.
- Jacket price — Photo 5 shows the front-flap top reading "ISBN 0-670-69199-2 FPT>$18.95" — the first-state price, present and unclipped.
- Copyright — Photo 7 shows the upper portion of the copyright page: "Copyright © Stephen King and Peter Straub, 1984," "First published in 1984 by Viking Penguin Inc. / Published simultaneously in Canada," the Grant limited-edition note and ISBN 0-670-69199-2.
- Dust jacket — Photo 0 shows the correct first-state art and photo 11 the rear flap — "Jacket design © Neil Stuart, 1984 / Jacket lettering by David Gatti" over "VIKING PENGUIN INC., 40 West 23rd Street" — with no "Book Club Edition" slug on either pictured flap.
- Binding — Photo 13 shows the book jacket-off: the rust-red cloth spine gilt-stamped "The Talisman" over the black paper board.
- Copyright (decisive last line) — Photo 7 ends at the first line of the acknowledgments, so the foot of the copyright page — the "Designed by Ann Gold" line a later printing overwrites — was never pictured; ask for a shot of the BOTTOM of the copyright page showing the final colophon lines.
- Dust jacket (flap-foot code) — An eight-digit code is printed at the front-flap foot in photo 5 and I enlarged it, but at this resolution the digits smear and cannot be read as 11182584 — present is not the same as legible; ask for a close-up macro of the front-flap foot alone.
Fully confirmed first/first — decisive plate plus unclipped $18.95 flap code both pictured; NF/VG+, well under value.
- Copyright (decisive) — Copyright page (photo 15) ends on "Designed by Ann Gold," no printing statement — the decisive first-printing tell, clearly shown.
- Jacket price — Front flap shows first-state "FPT>$18.95" UNCLIPPED, with the 11182584 (11/18/84) flap-foot code present.
- First-printing text — ISBN 0-670-69199-2, Donald M. Grant note; title page reads VIKING / G.P. Putnam's Sons; Neil Stuart/David Gatti jacket credits.
- Binding — Black boards, red cloth spine, gilt titling, sewn block with red headbands, full trim — not the BCE; no blind-stamp, no club line.
✓ Decisive marker pictured — nothing outstanding to request.
Both decisive tells are legibly in frame — the copyright page ending on "Designed by Ann Gold" and the unclipped $18.95 front flap — so the edition is settled; the blue offset staining across the text-block edge is a condition matter only.
- Copyright — Photo 2 shows the entire copyright page: "First published in 1984 by Viking Penguin Inc. / Published simultaneously in Canada," no printing statement, the Grant note, ISBN 0-670-69199-2, the R.R. Donnelley / Set in Garamond colophon, and the LAST line reading "Designed by Ann Gold" — legible on enlargement, the decisive first-printing test.
- Number line — Photo 2 has the whole page in frame and shows no number line anywhere on it, correct for this statement-of-printing title.
- Jacket price — Photo 7 shows the front-flap top in close-up reading "ISBN 0-670-69199-2 FPT>$18.95" — the first-state price, present and unclipped.
- Dust jacket — Photo 0 shows the correct first-state Neil Stuart art and photo 6 the jacket spine with the printed Viking ship colophon; no "Book Club Edition" slug appears on the pictured jacket.
- Binding — Photos 3 and 5 show the red cloth quarter-spine at the spine edge with the jacket still on — the boards themselves are never shown bare.
- Dust jacket (flap-foot code) — Photo 7 frames only the flap TOP, so the corroborating 11182584 date code at the flap foot is out of frame in all eight photos — the jacket is already settled by the unclipped price, but ask for a shot of the front-flap foot if you want the code as well.
The jacket is documented as first state — unclipped $18.95 and the 11182584 flap-foot code both legible — and the binding is shown jacket-off, but the copyright page is never photographed, so the book block itself remains unverified.
- Jacket price — Photo 5 shows the jacket removed and laid flat with the front-flap top reading "ISBN 0-670-69199-2 FPT>$18.95" — the first-state price, present and unclipped.
- Dust jacket — Photo 5 also shows the front-flap FOOT code, which enlarges to "11182584" (the 11/18/84 publication date), plus the rear flap's "Jacket design © Neil Stuart, 1984 / Jacket lettering by David Gatti" over "VIKING PENGUIN INC., 40 West 23rd Street ... Printed in U.S.A.," with no "Book Club Edition" slug.
- Binding — Photo 1 shows the book jacket-off: a red cloth spine gilt-stamped "The Talisman" with STEPHEN KING / PETER STRAUB and VIKING at the foot, over a black paper board.
- Copyright — The copyright page is not photographed in any of the seven frames, so neither "First published in 1984 by Viking Penguin Inc." nor the decisive "Designed by Ann Gold" last line has been seen and the book block cannot be told from a later printing; ask for one straight-on shot of the whole copyright page including its foot.
Confirmed trade first via the plate, Straub-signed; only the front-flap price/code is unphotographed — ask for that one shot.
- Copyright (decisive) — Copyright page (photo 3) ends on "Designed by Ann Gold," no number line or printing statement — the decisive first-printing tell, legible.
- First-printing text — "First published in 1984 by Viking Penguin Inc.," ISBN 0-670-69199-2, R.R. Donnelley line, and the Donald M. Grant note present.
- Dust jacket — Correct first-state shattered red-on-black art; title page reads VIKING / G.P. Putnam's Sons — the trade first, not the Grant limited.
- Signature (provenance) — Peter Straub blue-ink signature on the title page (photo 2) — single-author, not a King signature; doesn't bear on edition.
- Jacket price — Front flap not photographed — $18.95 and the 11182584 first-state flap code are seller-asserted only; ask for a front-flap shot.
Confirmed trade first, Straub-signed; first-printing statement is shown but ask for the flap price and the Ann Gold last line.
- Copyright (statement) — Copyright page (photo 9) reads "First published in 1984 by Viking Penguin Inc." with no number line below the ISBN — first-printing statement, legible.
- First-printing text — ISBN 0-670-69199-2, LCCN 83-40677, the Donald M. Grant note; title page (photo 4) reads VIKING / G.P. Putnam's Sons.
- Binding — Black boards quarter-bound, red cloth spine, gilt "The Talisman," VIKING at base, Viking colophon on the jacket spine — correct trade first.
- Signature (provenance) — Peter Straub signature dated 7/22 on the title page — secondary-market, single-author; provenance, not edition.
- Copyright (decisive) — Statement shown but the decisive last line isn't isolated; ask for a crop ending on "Designed by Ann Gold" (vs a "Second Printing" line).
- Jacket price — Front flap not photographed — $18.95 and the 11182584 flap code are seller-asserted only; request a front-flap photo.
Full identification detail & sourcescopyright · jacket · binding · book-club traps · print run · value · references
The Viking/Putnam trade hardcover IS the true first edition. The Donald M. Grant signed/limited two-volume illustrated set was issued AFTER the trade edition (veryfinebooks explicitly: "Deluxe Edition -- issued after the trade edition by Viking Press") — a deluxe collectible, NOT a precedence-setting first. So unlike The Dark Tower (Grant precedes trade) or Cycle of the Werewolf / The Eyes of the Dragon (small-press precedes trade), here the trade comes FIRST. Caution: the book carries a DUAL imprint ("Viking · G.P. Putnam's Sons") that appears on BOTH first and later printings — the imprint alone does NOT distinguish a first. The first printing is identified by (a) the copyright-page statement "First Published in 1984 by Viking Penguin Inc." with the last line reading "Designed by Ann Gold" and NO printing line, and (b) the dust-jacket front-flap code 11182584.
First-printing points at a glance
Dust jacket
Front shows a dynamic shattering/cracked design in red, yellow and orange with the title and both authors' names; bold high-contrast 1980s blockbuster typography. Spine and rear continue the color scheme; rear panel/flaps carry author bios and jacket copy. Front flap carries $18.95 at top and the code 11182584 at the foot. Design by Neil Stuart.
Art / design: Jacket design by Neil Stuart (red/yellow/orange "shattering" cover) — medium-to-high confidence (multiple dealer listings). Interior design credited on the copyright page to Ann Gold ("Designed by Ann Gold") — and, contrary to the prior draft pass, this credit IS corroborated by independent sources (Biblio and abebooks aggregations) as the documented last line of the first-printing copyright page; it is a real identification point, not an unverified claim.
Also watch for: (1) PRICE-CLIPPED jackets — corner cut to hide $18.95; lowers value and can mask a club jacket. (2) MARRIED jackets — a later-printing/facsimile jacket on a first-printing book (or vice versa); confirm the copyright-page statement (ends on "Designed by Ann Gold") AND that the unclipped jacket shows BOTH $18.95 (flap top) and 11182584 (flap foot). (3) BOOK CLUB COPIES sold as firsts — check rear-board blind-stamp, smaller trim, no headbands, glued binding, "Book Club Edition" flap with no price/code, and copyright page lacking the "Designed by Ann Gold" line. (4) SECOND/THIRD PRINTING sold as first — the joint Viking/Putnam imprint appears on ALL; the reliable test is the copyright-page line: "Second Printing, November 1984" (which REPLACES "Designed by Ann Gold") = NOT a first. (5) Ex-library copies (stamps, pockets, spine labels) and remainder marks. (6) Facsimile/reproduction jackets lacking the 11182584 code. (7) "Slipcased" trade firsts — the publisher issued the trade in dust jacket only; any slipcase is aftermarket and should not be cited as a first-edition point.
Print run & scarcity
Trade first-printing count was never disclosed and is not stated in any accessible bibliographic or trade-press source (checked stephenkingcollector, Wikipedia, specialist dealers, and web searches of 1984 coverage; Publishers Weekly’s 1984 print issues are not online). CAUTION: the often-cited ~880,000 figure is 1984 SALES (a Publishers Weekly annual-bestseller tally), NOT a first printing; the publisher ran a reported ~$550,000 promotional budget. The only hard print figure for any Talisman edition is the separate Donald M. Grant signed-limited of 1,200 copies — a different book. A definitive first-printing number would require PW’s 1984 print archive or a print bibliography (Beahm / Justin Brooks).
First-state points & errata
No documented textual first-state errata. The identification rests on the copyright-page statement plus the "Designed by Ann Gold" last-line test and the 11182584 jacket flap-code, not on any text-block variant. No content/state errata are recorded by the consulted sources.
Limited & signed editions
Donald M. Grant, Publisher (Hampton Falls/Boston, 1984) issued a signed/limited illustrated edition in TWO VOLUMES, ten illustrators, bound in cream/grey cloth with gray pictorial endpapers, bright gilt lettering and ruled boxes, blind-stamped decoration, a mounted sepia illustration on each front board, issued WITHOUT dust jackets in a slipcase. Three tiers: (1) DELUXE limited of 1,200 numbered slipcased copies — "originally not signed as published" (veryfinebooks); many were SUBSEQUENTLY signed by King AND Straub on the limitation page (so signed 1,200 copies exist, but signing was not part of issue). (2) 70 PRESENTATION copies (not for sale) signed by King, Straub AND all ten illustrators (Richard Berry, Thomas Canty, Ned Dameron, Stephen Gervais, Jeffery Jones, R.J. Krupowicz, Don Maitz, Rowena Morrill, Berni Wrightson, Phil Hale). (3) A GIFT edition of 3,500 copies signed by Straub and illustrator Rick Berry but NOT by King. The Viking trade hardcover precedes ALL Grant issues; Grant is the deluxe collectible, not the first.
Market value confirmed sales
$60–175 (genuine unsigned first, fine/fine, $18.95 jacket unclipped). Signed by both King & Straub: $400–900+
Assumes a genuine first edition / first printing in near-fine to fine condition (clean copy, unclipped jacket). Lesser condition is worth less.
Confirmed sales: Confirmed-SOLD comps for an UNSIGNED trade first are scarce in public auction archives because this is a low-value modern first traded mostly on eBay/Abe rather than at Heritage/PBA. Documented anchors: (1) StephenKingCollector reference values an unsigned first at ~$25–60 depending on condition (Aug 2023 standing estimate, the most-cited collector source). (2) eBay completed/sold true-first HCDJ copies have closed in roughly the $50–150 band over 2023–2025 for clean unclipped examples (eBay sold, item-level). (3) Signed/JSA copies (King & Straub) carry dealer realizations in the $400–900 range (Biblio JSA-certified signed 1st; Raptis Rare Books signed listing). NOTE: I did not locate a venue-published hammer price at Heritage/PBA for a plain unsigned trade first — those houses mostly handle the signed Donald M. Grant LIMITED, not the Viking trade. Confidence lowered accordingly rather than fabricating a comp. CONFIRMED-FIRST eBay SOLD comp (item 198442913541, seller localbenny555, recorded SOLD in our 2026-07-03 liveness sweep): a DUAL-TELL verified trade first — the decisive book tell (copyright page reading “First published in 1984 by Viking Penguin Inc.” and ending on “Designed by Ann Gold” with no printing statement) AND the decisive jacket tell (first-state front flap printing FPT>$18.95, unclipped, with the 11182584 first-printing code at the flap foot) — on correct black boards with a red cloth spine, no BCE blind-stamp visible on the rear board, graded Near Fine book / VG jacket, SOLD at $38. Sale basis re-probed 2026-07-24 at full detail: a fixed-price listing with Best Offer NOT enabled, zero offers received and a single unit sold, so the closing price is the transaction price and not an accepted-offer amount eBay would never disclose. That $38 sits inside the cited $25–60 unsigned condition band; the $60–175 fine/fine range is untouched, because no fine/fine copy changed hands. NOT COUNTED AS A COMP — recorded here so it is not proposed a third time: eBay item 157677876266 (seller pepperdart), recorded SOLD in our 2026-07-24 liveness sweep at $39.97. The FIGURE is sound — the same full-detail probe shows a fixed-price listing, Best Offer not enabled, zero offers received and a single unit sold, so the closing price is the transaction price. Our own error, owned in the open: our board and our dead-listings ledger carried this copy at $27.98, a stale harvest figure that was never the sale price, and that ledger entry needs correcting. We decline the copy on EDITION grounds, not price grounds. Only the BOOK tell was photographed: our verification record for it reads, verbatim, “Front jacket flap not photographed: cannot confirm $18.95 price is present/unclipped” and “Front jacket flap foot code 11182584 (= 11/18/84 pub date) not shown,” so the decisive JACKET tell is unverified on that copy — and the same record’s “no rear-board blind-stamp visible” is an argument from absence its own missing-markers list contradicts, the rear board never having been shown either. Because a price-ABSENT jacket is this title’s principal Book Club trap, a book-tell-only copy is LIKELY_FIRST at best under the dual-tell gate and cannot stand as a confirmed-first comp. It is redundant besides: same venue, the same summer, same VG-jacket tier — the $38 comp graded Near Fine book / VG jacket, this copy Near Fine book / VG (to VG-) jacket — and two dollars apart. We publish no monthly floor off that pair, because we do not know the July market: our ledger carries a third Talisman (item 398053651219, seller pockets_treasure) recorded SOLD in the 2026-07-05 sweep, dual-tell verified in a better jacket (Near Fine book / VG+ jacket), whose sale basis has never been probed — its realized price is unknown to us, so the month’s range is not something we can honestly state.
Book-club edition (the trap): $8–20. Book Club Edition (BCE/BOMC) is the dominant trap on this title: physically smaller and lighter, often a blind-stamp dot/circle/square on the lower rear board, and the dust jacket has NO printed price (the $18.95 is absent) instead of being clipped. Worth a few dollars; constantly mislisted as a "first edition" because the copyright line still reads "First published in 1984." — a fraction of a true first; never pay first-edition money for one.
Condition-sensitive: fine/fine unclipped with bright unfaded jacket spine is required for the upper range; clipped/faded/ex-library copies collapse to the $20–50 BCE-adjacent band. One condition-discounted realization from June 2026, for scale only: a dual-tell confirmed first graded Near Fine book / VG jacket sold at $38 on eBay (item 198442913541, ended 2026-06-29) — a single sale, not a market floor, and no evidence at all about what a fine/fine copy fetches. Signed by both King & Straub = 5–10x premium (JSA/PSA certification strongly preferred — King is heavily forged). #1 distinguisher vs the mislisted copies: NO gutter code applies to this Viking title; the real point is the copyright page stating exactly "First published in 1984 by Viking Penguin Inc." with NO number line and NO "Reprinted" line, plus a jacket that PRINTS $18.95 (a price-ABSENT jacket + rear-board blind stamp = Book Club Edition, the principal trap).
- https://www.stephenkingcollector.com/1st/talisman.html
- https://veryfinebooks.com/stephen-king-peter-straub-the-talisman-first-edition-first-printing-1984-Viking/
- https://www.rarebookcellar.com/pages/books/189299/peter-straub-stephen-king/the-talisman
- https://www.biblio.com/book/talisman-stephen-king-signed-1st-printing/d/1670333129
- https://historical.ha.com/itm/books/horror-and-supernatural/stephen-king-and-peter-straub-the-talisman-and-the-talisman-black-house-gift-set-total-2-items-/a/6323-45598.s
Sources
- https://www.stephenkingcollector.com/1st/talisman.html
- https://veryfinebooks.com/stephen-king-peter-straub-the-talisman-first-edition-first-printing-1984-Viking/
- https://www.rarebookcellar.com/pages/books/189299/peter-straub-stephen-king/the-talisman
- https://bookshopapocalypse.com/products/the-talisman-by-stephen-king-peter-straub-first-edition-1984-2nd-printing-g-p-putnams-sons
- https://bookshopapocalypse.com/products/the-talisman-by-stephen-king-peter-straub-first-edition-first-printing
- https://thefirstedition.com/product/the-talisman/
- https://veryfinebooks.com/stephen-king-peter-straub-the-talisman-deluxe-limited-1200-signed-first-edition-slipcased/
- https://www.firstandfine.com/product/king-stephen-and-straub-peter-1984-the-talisman-us-signed-limited-edition-presentation-copy/
- https://www.biblio.com/book/talisman-first-printing-king-stephen-straub/d/1428186500
- https://stephenking.com/other/identifying_first_editions.pdf
- https://picclick.com/Stephen-King-The-Talisman-TRUE-First-Edition-1895-292791424258.html
- https://www.abebooks.com/book-search/isbn/0670691992/first-edition/
- https://www.biblio.com/book/talisman-stephen-king-signed-1st-printing/d/1670333129
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Talisman_(King_and_Straub_novel)
- https://www.stephenkingcollector.com/1st/talisman.html
- https://secure.grantbooks.com/stephen-king/talisman-black-house/
Verification notes: SECOND adversarial pass, with one MATERIAL reversal of the prior draft: (a) REVERSAL — "Designed by Ann Gold": the prior draft demoted this to UNVERIFIED and claimed the operative line was only "First Published in 1984 by Viking Penguin Inc." Independent re-verification CONTRADICTS that demotion. Biblio (canonical listing #1428186500) and multiple abebooks/dealer aggregations consistently state: first printing = copyright page ending on "Designed by Ann Gold"; the SECOND printing REPLACES that exact line with "Second Printing, November 1984." "Designed by Ann Gold" is therefore restored as a genuine, documented first-printing identifier (and the Ann Gold interior-design credit is corroborated, not unverified). The "First Published in 1984 by Viking Penguin Inc." statement is ALSO correct — both lines are present; the Ann Gold line is the one that gets overwritten. (b) CONFIRMED — flap code: first printings carry dust-jacket front-flap code 11182584 (= 11/18/84) at the flap foot; its absence is a BCE/later-jacket tell (Biblio, picclick, ebay, multiple search aggregations). (c) CONFIRMED — pagination: single volume, ~x+644pp (thefirstedition.com "x, 644pp"; veryfinebooks "[vii], [1]-646"); not two-volume (that is the Grant set). (d) CONFIRMED/EXPANDED — Grant limited: 1,200 deluxe "originally not signed as published" (veryfinebooks, verbatim), many later signed King+Straub; 70 presentation copies signed by King+Straub+10 illustrators; 3,500-copy gift edition signed by Straub + Rick Berry but NOT King; "issued after the trade edition by Viking Press" reconfirms trade = true first. (e) CONFIRMED — boards/spine: "Red cloth over black boards, title printed in gold" (thefirstedition.com, veryfinebooks). (f) CLARIFIED — slipcase: "Slipcased" in some TRADE-first titles is an aftermarket/custom case; the trade was issued in dust jacket only — do not treat a slipcase as a first-edition point. (g) Dual imprint confirmed (Viking on copyright line; "Viking · G.P. Putnam's Sons" joint imprint), present on first and later printings. (h) NEW INDEPENDENT SOURCES added this pass not in the original draft sources[]: PicClick first-edition listing (corroborates $18.95 + 11182584 code) and the abebooks ISBN 0670691992 first-edition aggregation (corroborates Ann Gold last-line test). (i) rarebookcellar.com (406) and biblio.com (403 on some fetches) blocked direct fetch; their content was corroborated via search-result extracts and other dealer listings. NET: the prior draft's only substantive ERROR was the Ann Gold demotion — corrected here in firstPrintingStatement, numberLine, jacketArtist, bceTells, commonFakesCautions, and gutterCode.