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Rage Grail pb original

as Richard Bachman
1977 · Signet (New American Library), New York — mass-market paperback original. Catalog no. W7645, ISBN 0451076451 / 9780451076458.
First-edition cover of Rage
First-edition jacket (first edition (verified vs jacket)) · source

What it’s about

Charlie Decker, a troubled high school senior in small-town Maine, snaps after a confrontation with the principal, retrieves a pistol from his locker, and guns down a teacher before taking his algebra class hostage. As the school is surrounded and the standoff drags on, Charlie holds court with his captive classmates, steering them into raw, confessional conversation that peels back the polished surface of suburban teenage life. Tense and claustrophobic, it is a first-person descent into adolescent alienation and the violence simmering beneath an ordinary classroom.

Significance King's first novel published under the Richard Bachman pseudonym (1977) and the most notorious entry in canon — King allowed it to fall out of print after it was linked to real school shootings, making the Bachman-era paperback a sought-after collector's rarity.

Is this the true first?NO. "Rage" is a PAPERBACK ORIGINAL — there is no hardcover first edition. It was issued only as a Signet mass-market paperback (W7645) in September 1977. The novel's FIRST hardcover appearance is the omnibus "The Bachman Books" (NAL, October 1985), which collects Rage, The Long Walk, Roadwork and The Running Man. So a collector wanting a hardcover of Rage buys The Bachman Books; a collector wanting the true first edition of Rage buys the 1977 Signet paperback.
The true first edition is the 1977 Signet mass-market paperback (W7645). No hardcover, small-press limited, or trade edition precedes it. The official Stephen King "Identifying First Editions" guide lists the first as: Rage / 1977 / Signet / $1.50 / "First Signet Printing, September, 1977" on the copyright page. The first hardcover printing of the text is the 1985 NAL omnibus "The Bachman Books" ($19.95, "First (omnibus) Printing, October 1985" on CP) — a later state of the text, NOT a first edition of Rage. Note: King let Rage go out of print after it was linked to several school shootings, so it was never reissued separately — the 1977 Signet is the only standalone edition and is the scarcest of the early Bachman paperbacks.

First-printing points at a glance

First-printing statementCopyright page reads "FIRST PRINTING, SEPTEMBER, 1977" (the official King guide records the wording as "First Signet Printing, September, 1977"). A true first must show this September-1977 first-printing statement together with the complete descending-to-1 number line. Later Signet printings carry a different printing month/year statement and a number line no longer beginning/ending at 1.
Number lineFirst printing shows the full number line "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9" on the copyright page (lowest digit 1 present). A later printing drops the leading low number(s) — e.g. a row beginning "2 3 4 5..." or higher indicates a second or later printing, not a first.
Gutter / printer codeN/A — Signet/NAL mass-market paperbacks are not identified by Doubleday-style gutter codes. First-printing identification is by the copyright-page statement + number line only.
First printing — copiesNot publicly disclosed
First jacket price$1.50 (cover price — no dust jacket; this is the price printed on the paperback cover). Confirmed by the official Stephen King identification guide ($1.50) and dealer listings (Downtown Brown). The companion later Bachman paperbacks rose in price (The Long Walk $1.95, Roadwork $2.25, The Running Man $2.50), so a $1.50 cover is consistent only with the 1977 Rage first printing. (Printed on the front cover, upper area near the catalog number (Signet W7645). As a mass-market paperback there is no dust jacket or price flap; the price is part of the printed cover and the matching code/price may also appear on the spine and rear cover.)
Board (panel) colorN/A — no hardcover. The paperback has a predominantly black cover (front-cover art over black ground) with red title lettering. Fore-edges/page-edges plain (untinted) on the mass-market stock.
Spine / center bindingN/A — perfect-bound (glued) paperback spine, not cloth. Spine carries title, "Richard Bachman" byline, the Signet logo and catalog number on the black cover scheme.
Binding styleMass-market paperback: perfect-bound (glued), pictorial card cover. Not sewn, not cloth, no boards. Approx. trim 4¼ x 7.0 x 0.7" per the official King guide.
Topstain / endpapersN/A — mass-market paperback; no topstain, no endpapers (self-wrappers / card cover). UNVERIFIED as to any edge tint (page edges appear plain/untinted on the 1977 printing).

Dust jacket

No dust jacket (paperback). Printed card cover: black ground with the title "RAGE" in red lettering and a brooding teenage male figure seated on/at a classroom teacher's desk, with the "Richard Bachman" byline. Signet logo and W7645 catalog number on cover/spine; $1.50 price on front. UNVERIFIED as to back-cover blurb text specifics.

Art / design: UNVERIFIED — no artist/illustrator credit is documented for the 1977 Signet cover in collector references. (For contrast, the 1985 hardcover "The Bachman Books" jacket art is by Don Brautigam, but that is a different book.)

reference photohttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rage_(1977)_front_cover,_first_edition.jpgreference photohttps://stephenkingcovers.com/title/rage-richard-bachman/reference photohttps://veryfinebooks.com/stephen-king-rage-first-edition-first-printing-richard-bachman-1st-1977-Signet-Classics/
Book-club edition & fakes — how to spot a wrong copyNo book-club edition exists for the 1977 Signet paperback of Rage (paperback original, never a BOMC selection). BCE concerns instead attach to the 1985 hardcover omnibus "The Bachman Books" (NAL): the Doubleday/BCE-style tells there are a small blind-stamp on the lower-right rear board, "Book Club Edition" on the lower front jacket flap, NO printed jacket price (a true NAL first jacket carries $19.95), smaller/lighter trim and cheaper paper, and glued rather than sewn binding. For Rage itself there is no club issue to confuse — the only counterfeit risk is later Signet printings or facsimile covers, not a BCE.

Also watch for: Cautions specific to Rage: (1) Later Signet printings sold as firsts — always verify "FIRST PRINTING, SEPTEMBER, 1977" + full "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9" number line AND the $1.50 cover price (later printings change the statement and number line). (2) Because it is famously out of print and valuable, watch for facsimile/reproduction covers wrapped around a later/cheaper text block, and "married" copies. (3) Ex-library, heavy reading wear, cracked/rolled spine, and tape repairs are common on this fragile mass-market stock and sharply reduce value. (4) Forged King/Bachman signatures appear on high-value copies — demand reputable provenance/authentication. (5) Do NOT accept a 1985 "The Bachman Books" hardcover as a "first edition of Rage" — it is the first hardcover appearance but a later state of the text. (6) Confirm the matching W7645 catalog number to rule out a mismatched/rebound copy.

Print run & scarcity

FORMAT CAVEAT (load-bearing): The title in front of me is a PAPERBACK ORIGINAL. 'Rage' was published as a Signet/NAL paperback (catalog W7645, 'First Printing September 1977', number line 1-9, $1.50) on/around Sept 13, 1977 — the first novel written as Richard Bachman. There was NO contemporaneous hardcover edition, so there is no hardcover first-printing figure for the 1977 release. No reliable first-printing copy count is published for the 1977 paperback original either (vintage mass-market production figures were not disclosed). FIRST HARDCOVER APPEARANCE: Rage was first hardbound in the 1985 NAL omnibus 'The Bachman Books' (pub. Oct 4, 1985; collected Rage, The Long Walk, Roadwork, The Running Man). That omnibus shipped in two states: hardcover @ $19.95 ~25,000 copies, and trade paperback (Plume) @ $9.95 ~300,000 copies — so the HC is scarce. The ~25,000 figure is the relevant 'hardcover first printing' if interpreted as the book's first hardcover; it is widely cited in King-collector references but I did not find a publisher primary source. Additional context: the deliberately-misnamed 'Carrie ~30,000' reference in the prompt does NOT apply here — verified Rage independently; the only legitimate print-run number attachable to this title is the 1985 omnibus's ~25,000 HC. Note also: US editions of both Rage and The Bachman Books were withdrawn from print by King/publisher in 1997-99 after school shootings; UK Bachman Books remains in print minus Rage.

First-state points & errata

No published text-block errata/state distinction is documented for the 1977 Signet Rage; first vs later is determined solely by the copyright-page statement and number line. UNVERIFIED as to any internal variant.

Limited & signed editions

No publisher-issued signed/numbered or traycased limited edition of Rage exists. The 1977 Signet paperback is the only edition. Dealers (e.g. Very Fine Books) sometimes offer the ordinary first-printing paperback housed in a custom clamshell/tray-case they commission — that is a dealer-added protective case, NOT a publisher limited edition, and adds no bibliographic priority. Genuine King-signed copies exist but are author-signed copies of the standard first printing, not a "limited edition."

Market value confirmed sales

$2,000–4,000 (genuine first printing, Fine/unread mass-market paperback original; there is no dust jacket to clip — it is a PBO)

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

Confirmed sales: No clean public auction/sold record surfaced for a true Fine first. Closest transaction signal: an eBay copy with a MISSING cover sold ~$504 (Sept 2025) — a damaged-copy floor, not a Fine comp. Press reporting (LADbible/SlashFilm, Jan 2025) cites "up to $4,000" for collectible copies. Treat these as directional, not as Fine/Fine confirmed comps.

Book-club edition (the trap): No true book-club edition of the standalone Rage exists (it was a PBO, never a BCE). The real "cheap trap" substitute is THE BACHMAN BOOKS omnibus (1985, which reprints Rage) — common, ~$10–40; later Signet printings of Rage (number line not ending in 1) ~$50–150. — a fraction of a true first; never pay first-edition money for one.

Condition-driven: a thin PBO, so most survivors are VG with spine lean/reading creases (~$200–800); the $2,000+ tier is reserved for genuinely Fine/unread copies, which are scarce — that scarcity IS the premium. King-signed copies command a large multiple (Near Fine signed asks ~$15,000). THE single biggest thing separating a real first from the mislistings: Rage was a SIGNET MASS-MARKET PAPERBACK ORIGINAL (W7645, $1.50) — there is NO Doubleday hardcover and NO gutter code, so any "hardcover first edition of Rage" is the 1985 Bachman Books omnibus or a custom rebind, NOT this book. Verify the stated line "FIRST PRINTING, SEPTEMBER, 1977" plus the full number line ending in 1; a number line not ending in 1 is a later printing worth a fraction.

Value sources:

Sources

Verification notes: Price $1.50 cross-checked: official stephenking.com guide PDF + Downtown Brown listing + multiple AbeBooks listings. Statement/number line cross-checked: Very Fine Books ("FIRST PRINTING, SEPTEMBER, 1977" + "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9"), AbeBooks/Peryton Books (same number line), and the King guide ("First Signet Printing, September, 1977"). Catalog no. W7645 confirmed across AbeBooks/Biblio listings. Hardcover-first = The Bachman Books (1985 NAL, $19.95, "First (omnibus) Printing, October 1985") confirmed via the King guide PDF.

confidence: high — the $1.50 price, "FIRST PRINTING, SEPTEMBER, 1977" statement, "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9" number line, W7645 catalog number, paperback-original status, and 1985 NAL hardcover-first fact are each cross-confirmed by 2+ independent sources including the official Stephen King identification guide. Lower on the cover-artist credit (UNVERIFIED — no documented attribution found).← Back to all titles