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Misery Collectible

1987 · The Viking Press / Viking Penguin Inc., New York
First-edition cover of Misery
First-edition jacket (first (Wikipedia infobox)) · source

What it’s about

Bestselling novelist Paul Sheldon, famous for his Victorian romance heroine Misery Chastain, crashes his car on a snowy Colorado road and is pulled from the wreckage by Annie Wilkes, a former nurse who claims to be his "number one fan." Bedridden with shattered legs in her isolated farmhouse, Paul slowly realizes that his rescuer has no intention of letting him leave — and that her devotion curdles into something far more dangerous when she learns what he did to her beloved Misery in his latest book. A claustrophobic two-hander about obsession, captivity, and the brutal bargain between a writer and his audience.

Significance Adapted into the 1990 film for which Kathy Bates won the Best Actress Oscar (the only Academy Award acting win from a King adaptation); widely read as King's allegory for fame, addiction, and the writer-fan relationship.

Is this the true first?Yes. The Viking trade hardcover (June 8, 1987) is the true first edition, first printing. There is NO small-press or paperback original preceding it — unlike The Eyes of the Dragon (Philtrum 1984) or Cycle of the Werewolf (Land of Enchantment 1983), Misery debuted as a Viking trade hardcover at $18.95. No signed/limited edition existed at original publication; the first official signed limited came decades later from Suntup Editions (2018).
The Viking trade hardcover is the true first. No Donald M. Grant, Philtrum, or Land of Enchantment limited precedes it; no paperback original. A near-simultaneous UK first was issued by Hodder & Stoughton (London, 1987) — a separate true UK first, but as King is American the US Viking printing is the collected true first. The only "limited" of note is the much later Suntup Editions signed limited (2018), a separate, later collectible and NOT a precedence point. Note: the 1987 first run was produced by TWO printers simultaneously — R.R. Donnelley (Harrisonburg, VA) and Arcata Graphics (Fairfield, PA) — and endpapers appear in both orange and white; all are legitimate firsts (StephenKingCollector forum, multiple owners).

First-printing points at a glance

First-printing statementCopyright page reads "First published in 1987 by Viking Penguin Inc." (Viking convention: NO "First Edition" wording is printed). Per the canonical stephenking.com / Bev Vincent identification guide, the copyright statement is the SOLE first-edition identifier for Misery — there is no number line to check. Below the ISBN the page carries the printer note ("Printed in the United States of America by R.R. Donnelley & Sons, Harrisonburg, Virginia" — or, on the alternate run, Arcata Graphics, Fairfield, Pennsylvania). A true first carries this statement with NO later-printing/revised wording added, paired with the $18.95 jacket. Later printings add a printing statement; book-club editions also carry "First published in 1987" but are distinguished by the jacket and trim, not by a number line (neither the trade first nor the BCE has one).
Number lineNONE. Misery's first printing has NO number line on the copyright page. Per the authoritative stephenking.com "Identifying First Editions" guide (Bev Vincent), Misery is identified ONLY by the statement "First published in 1987 by Viking Penguin, Inc." on the copyright page — no row of printing numbers is present. (Contrast The Tommyknockers, same publisher/year, which DOES carry "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10".) CORRECTION TO DRAFT: the draft's claim of a "full Viking number line ending in 1" is WRONG for this title and must not be used as a first-printing test. Because BOTH the trade first and the book-club edition lack a number line, absence-of-number-line is useless as a distinguishing point here — use the jacket price ($18.95) and printer/trim instead.
Gutter / printer codeN/A — Viking title, no Doubleday-style alphanumeric gutter code (e.g. R49/T39) applies. Viking firsts of this era are identified by the copyright statement, not a gutter code. The string "06182587" seen in dealer listings is a date/print code on the dust JACKET (rear panel), not a copyright-page gutter code (it encodes the June 1987 publication window).
First printing — copiesNot publicly disclosed
First jacket price$18.95 (Upper corner of the front dust-jacket flap. A first-state jacket also carries the print/date code "06182587" on the rear panel. A price-clipped (corner cut) or inked-over flap hides this and lowers value — at least one cross-checked dealer copy (Edwards Rare Books) had the $18.95 inked over.)
Board (panel) colorGrey (gray) paper-covered boards (panels)
Spine / center bindingBlack cloth spine (half-bound: black cloth spine over grey paper-covered boards), with red/gilt spine lettering
Binding styleHalf-bound (two-tone): black cloth spine over grey paper-covered boards; sewn binding. Approx. 6.25 x 9.5 in (per stephenking.com trim 6¼ x 9½ x 1.1"), 310 pages, ISBN 0-670-81364-8. Endpapers vary first-run: orange or white.
Topstain / endpapersNo notable topstain reported. Endpapers are a documented FIRST-PRINTING VARIANT: copies appear with either orange or white (plain) endpapers, across both printers (R.R. Donnelley and Arcata Graphics) — per StephenKingCollector forum owners. Both are legitimate firsts; neither carries priority.

Where to buy marker-checked

Live AbeBooks listings, checked against the seller's own photos. ✓ confirmed = a photo shows the decisive first-printing marker; cover only = ask the seller for the copyright-page shot before buying.

✓ 1st/1st confirmed$400Dan Pope Books$18.95 price intact (not clipped) — visible on front jacket flap as 'FPT > $18.95'. Buyer notes: (1) This copy is the Arcata Graphics (Fairfield, PA)

Dust jacket

Front: title/author lettering (DiSpigna lettering) over Bob Giusti illustration evoking the captive-novelist theme. Spine lettering present (red/gilt). Rear jacket carries the date/print code "06182587". Front flap carries the $18.95 price at the upper corner; rear flap carries the standard Viking author treatment. Precise front/back imagery wording beyond the Stuart-design / Giusti-illustration / DiSpigna-lettering credits is not reproduced verbatim by the cross-checked dealer listings.

Art / design: Jacket design by Neil Stuart; jacket illustration by Bob Giusti; lettering by Tony DiSpigna

reference photohttps://veryfinebooks.com/stephen-king-misery-first-edition-first-printing/reference photohttps://bookshopapocalypse.com/products/misery-by-stephen-king-first-book-club-edition-1987reference photohttps://shop.suntup.press/products/misery-fine-art-print
Book-club edition & fakes — how to spot a wrong copyThe Book Club Edition (BCE/BOMC) of Misery is deceptively close to the true first — SAME "First published in 1987" copyright line AND, like the trade first, NO number line (so number-line presence/absence is NOT a useful tell for this title; the draft was wrong to call it the "single most reliable" point). REAL TELLS: (1) jacket has NO printed price ($18.95) on the front flap and typically no "06182587" rear-panel code — the dealer-confirmed BCE was described as "identical to the true first edition w/ no price on dust jacket"; (2) a blind-stamp (small indented circle/dot/square) usually on the lower-rear board; (3) often smaller trim and thinner/cheaper paper, sometimes glued rather than sewn; (4) some BCE jackets state "Book Club Edition" on the lower front flap. The single most reliable distinguishing point for Misery is the ABSENCE OF THE $18.95 JACKET PRICE plus the blind stamp — NOT a number line.

Also watch for: (1) Price-clipped or ink-blacked-out flaps — sellers obscure a non-$18.95 price; one cross-checked dealer "first" (Edwards Rare Books) had the $18.95 INKED OVER, which lowers confidence/value. (2) Married jackets — a later-printing or BCE book in a first-state ($18.95) jacket, or vice versa; Book Club jackets are also placed on firsts to replace damaged ones (per stephenking.com guide). (3) Facsimile/reproduction jackets (lack the rear "06182587" code; flat/modern paper stock). (4) Ex-library copies (stamps, pockets, spine labels). (5) Remainder marks on the bottom text-block edge. (6) BCE sold as "first" — because the copyright line AND the no-number-line trait both match the trade first, verify via the JACKET PRICE and blind stamp, never the number line. (7) Bookseller "custom matching slipcase" presented as if publisher-issued.

Print run & scarcity

The ~1,000,000 figure circulates via the Stephen King collector community (StephenKingCollector.com and collector forums) and is the reason the first edition is common and inexpensive relative to King's scarce early titles (e.g., 'Salem's Lot, The Shining). It is NOT a precisely documented Viking Penguin disclosure — it is the accepted ballpark. The functional takeaway is unchanged regardless of the exact number: first-printing trade copies are abundant, so rarity adds little and condition/signature drive value. Two simultaneous printer variants (Donnelley/Harrisonburg, white endpapers; Arcata/Fairfield, orange-red endpapers) split the first printing.

First-state points & errata

No textual erratum separates states; identification is the copyright statement + $18.95 unclipped jacket. Benign first-printing variants (both true firsts, no priority): printer (R.R. Donnelley vs Arcata Graphics, stated below ISBN) and endpaper color (orange or white).

Limited & signed editions

No signed/limited/traycased edition was issued at original publication (1987). The first OFFICIAL signed limited is Suntup Editions (Feb 2018), oversized (7.5 x 10.5"), eight new full-color Rick Berry illustrations, in THREE states per stephenking.com: (1) Numbered — limited to 200, signed by Stephen King and Rick Berry (185 numbered in black for sale; 15 numbered in red, reserved); (2) Lettered — 26 copies (A-Z), signed by King and Berry, full-leather handbound by Peter Geraty / Praxis Bindery, with a Barry Moser wood-engraving and six original Royal glass typewriter keys in a walnut box; (3) Artist Gift Edition — signed by Rick Berry only, slipcased with dust jacket. These are later collectibles, NOT first-edition precedents. (The draft's "Dave Christensen" co-signer is unconfirmed by stephenking.com and dropped.) Aftermarket "slipcased" Viking firsts exist but the slipcases are bookseller-issued, not publisher-issued.

Market value confirmed sales

$200–500 (true first, fine/fine, unclipped $18.95 jacket, unsigned). Signed/flat: ~$800–1,500; signed & inscribed: ~$1,200–2,500.

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

Confirmed sales: Very Fine Books — unsigned 1st/1st, Fine/Fine, unclipped $18.95 jacket, listed/sold at $295 (current dealer listing, 2024-2026). StephenKingCollector.com authority pegs typical-grade copies at $15–$50 (Aug 2023 valuation, reflecting clipped/lower-grade and the million-copy printing). Sotheby's — signed (flat, title page) UNCORRECTED PROOF, VG, offered in the four-figure range (proof, not the trade first — a near-comp, NOT a first-printing sold comp). Dealer market (Edwards Rare Books / First and Fine / veryfinebooks) signed & inscribed trade firsts cluster ~$1,200–2,500 asking. NOTE: no Heritage/PBA realized-price record for a plain unsigned first surfaced — consistent with it being too common to make major auctions; treat unsigned band as dealer-sold-anchored, not auction-anchored.

Book-club edition (the trap): $10–30. The Book-of-the-Month Club / book-club edition is the dominant trap on this title and is near-worthless. Tells: NO $18.95 price on jacket flap (BCE jackets have no price), blind-stamp ("dot" or square) on lower rear board, lighter/thinner boards, and often "Book Club Edition" on the front flap. Many are mislisted as "first edition" because the copyright page can read similarly. — a fraction of a true first; never pay first-edition money for one.

Condition is everything here because the printing is NOT scarce — value lives entirely in grade + jacket integrity + signature. The SINGLE biggest separator for THIS title: the jacket must be UNCLIPPED showing the original $18.95 (with DJ code 06182587 / 0618 2587) AND the book must NOT carry a book-club blind-stamp on the rear board. A price-clipped or restored/married jacket drops a Fine copy by 40–70%. Because ~1M first-printing trade copies exist, an unsigned first/first is a $200–500 book at best in true Fine/Fine — anyone asking four figures for an UNSIGNED copy is mispricing. Real money requires King's signature: a flat title-page signature roughly 3–5x's an unsigned copy, an inscription with date/place more. Two genuine first-printing variants exist (white endpapers / R.R. Donnelley-Harrisonburg vs. orange-red endpapers / Arcata-Fairfield) — both are accepted firsts, neither commands a premium; don't let a seller upsell one as "the" first.

Value sources:

Sources

Verification notes: CORRECTIONS vs draft (sources preferred): (1) NUMBER LINE — draft claimed a "full Viking number line ending in 1" and made absence of the line the key BCE tell. WRONG. Per the canonical stephenking.com/Bev Vincent guide, Misery's first printing has NO number line at all; it is identified by the copyright statement alone (cf. The Tommyknockers same year, which DOES carry "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10"). Both the trade first AND the BCE lack a number line, so that tell is void for this title. (2) BCE TELL — corrected to ABSENCE OF $18.95 JACKET PRICE + blind stamp + smaller trim (dealer BCE = "identical to the true first edition w/ no price on dust jacket and no number line"). (3) PRINTER/ENDPAPER — added documented first-printing variants: two simultaneous printers (R.R. Donnelley, Harrisonburg VA; Arcata Graphics, Fairfield PA) and orange-or-white endpapers; the printer line below the ISBN is a genuine first-printing locus (StephenKingCollector forum). (4) JACKET CREDITS — added Tony DiSpigna (lettering) alongside Neil Stuart (design) and Bob Giusti (illustration). (5) BINDING — "half-bound" (½ black cloth) per dealers, not "quarter-bound." (6) SUNTUP — confirmed Numbered/200 (King+Berry) + added Lettered/26 + Artist Gift (Berry-only); dropped unverified "Dave Christensen." (7) GUTTER CODE — confirmed N/A; "06182587" is a jacket date-code, not a CP gutter code. VERIFIED & UNCHANGED: copyright statement, $18.95 front-flap price + location, jacket code 06182587, grey boards / black cloth spine, ISBN 0-670-81364-8, 310 pp, Viking trade HC is true first (no small-press precedent), Suntup 2018 only official signed limited. STILL UNVERIFIED: exact rear-board blind-stamp shape specific to this title; precise front-jacket imagery wording beyond credits.

confidence: High. Confirmed against the canonical stephenking.com "Identifying First Editions" guide (Bev Vincent) — the authoritative points source not in the original draft — which lists Misery as Viking 1987, trim 6¼ x 9½ x 1.1", DJ $18.95, identifier "First published in 1987 by Viking Penguin, Inc." on CP with NO number line. Corroborated by the StephenKingCollector.com forum (two-printer + endpaper variants), multiple dealers (VeryFineBooks $18.95 + jacket code 06182587, Edwards Rare Books, Second Story/Ernesto IC), the dealer BCE listing (no jacket price), and the Suntup three-state limited. The draft's number-line claim is corrected to NONE; the BCE distinguishing tell is corrected from no-number-line to no-jacket-price + blind stamp.← Back to all titles