11 Scribes · All titles · Scribner Era (1998-present)

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon Common

1999 · Charles Scribner's Sons (Scribner), an imprint of Simon & Schuster, New York

First-edition cover of The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon — First-edition jacket (first edition (verified vs jacket)) · source

What it’s about

Nine-year-old Trisha McFarland wanders a few steps off an Appalachian Trail hike to escape her bickering mother and brother, and within minutes is hopelessly lost in the deep woods of Maine and New Hampshire. With dwindling food, a fading Walkman, and the wilderness closing in, she clings to the one constant that keeps her moving: the voice of Red Sox broadcasts and the steady, unshakable poise of her hero, closing pitcher Tom Gordon. Alone for days, she begins to sense that something in the forest is following her.

Significance A lean, single-protagonist survival novel from King's late-90s run, notable for its baseball-as-faith motif and its original hardcover release with a foil-and-die-cut "watch" cover by Mark Ryden; long optioned for film (with George A. Romero and later others attached).

Is this the true first?Yes
The Scribner trade hardcover IS the true first edition. Unlike the early Dark Tower / Eyes of the Dragon / Cycle of the Werewolf cases, there is no Donald M. Grant, Philtrum, or Land of Enchantment limited that precedes this title. The only signed/limited variant of note is the 2004 Little Simon POP-UP adaptation (a different, later book — adapted text, not the King novel), so it does not displace the 1999 Scribner first.

I own a copy of this title

My notes — condition, state, price intact, is it a book-club copy?

First-printing points at a glance

First-printing statementScribner-era convention requires BOTH to be present on the copyright page: the words "First Edition" (or "First Scribner Edition" wording) AND the full number line ending in the terminal "1". Sellers/collector references confirm the first printing carries the complete number line with the "1" present. (Exact verbatim "First Edition" string on the copyright page: reported present per Scribner convention but not photo-verified in sources consulted — treat the number line as the decisive point.)

Number line"1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2" — a true first printing shows the full line including the leading "1". Later printings drop the lowest number(s): a copy whose lowest number is "2" (line begins/lowest digit "2 ... " i.e. missing the "1") is a second printing, and so on. Cross-confirmed by stephenkingcollector.com and multiple AbeBooks first-edition listings.

Gutter / printer codeN/A (Scribner identifies first printings by the copyright-page number line, not a Doubleday-style gutter code).

First printing — copies~1,250,000 (first trade printing, Scribner hardcover, April 1999) accepted figure

First jacket price$16.95 (Upper front jacket flap (top-right corner of the front flap). Later printings/club issues differ — a price-clipped flap hides this and lowers value; a Book Club Edition flap shows no price.)

Board (panel) colorQuarter-bound, two-tone. Reported configurations vary slightly between sources: most collector descriptions give black cloth boards (panels) with a gold/gilt "wasp" device stamped on the front board; some dealer listings describe the second panel/boards as gray. Board (panel) color: black (with gold wasp stamp on front), per stephenking.fandom / collector listings.

Spine / center bindingAmber cloth spine (quarter-cloth spine in amber), contrasting with the darker boards. (Some dealer listings invert the description as "black cloth spine with gray boards" — the consistent point is that it is QUARTER-BOUND / two-tone, not full cloth.)

Binding styleQuarter-bound (two-tone) cloth-over-boards hardcover, sewn binding; octavo (8vo). Amber spine cloth + contrasting (black) boards with a gilt wasp stamped on the front board. Trade firsts are sewn, not glued.

Topstain / endpapersNo colored topstain noted (plain). Endpapers/pastedowns reported as white (front and rear free endpapers and paste-downs in white). No decorative endpaper.

Dust jacket

Front jacket features the title and author name with imagery evoking the dark New England woods (the lost-girl-in-the-forest motif); a stylized wasp/insect motif ties to the gilt wasp on the front board. Rear panel carries review/jacket copy; rear flap carries author bio and photo. (Full art layout not photo-verified field-by-field in sources consulted.)

Art / design: Jacket designed by Shasti O'Leary (Shasti O'Leary-Soudant). Jacket/photo credits: photographic/illustrative jacket; specific cover photographer UNVERIFIED in sources consulted.

https://www.stephenkingcollector.com/1st/tomgordon.html

https://www.rarebookcellar.com/pages/books/97153/stephen-king/the-girl-who-loved-tom-gordon

Book-club edition & fakes — how to spot a wrong copyBook Club Edition (BOMC) tells for this title: (1) a small blind-stamp (indented dot/circle or square) on the lower-right of the REAR board; (2) "Book Club Edition" printed on the lower front jacket flap with NO price (vs. "$16.95" on a true first); (3) noticeably lighter/smaller trim and cheaper paper; (4) often glued rather than sewn; (5) the copyright page on a BCE will LACK the full Scribner number line. The combination of NO flap price + blind-stamp + missing number line = club copy.

Also watch for: (1) Married jackets — a true-first book block in a later/club jacket (or vice versa); confirm BOTH the number line "1" AND the "$16.95" unclipped flap match. (2) Price-clipped jackets hide the price point and cut value. (3) Ex-library copies (stamps, pockets, spine labels) — common for a 1.25M-copy print run; heavily discounted. (4) Remainder marks (sprayed/marker dot on bottom text-block edge) — not a club tell but reduces value. (5) Do not confuse the 2004 pop-up adaptation with the novel's first edition. Given the enormous first print run (~1,250,000), genuine firsts are abundant and inexpensive — facsimile jackets are rarely worth faking.

Print run & scarcity

Headline 1,250,000 is the FIRST TRADE PRINTING of the regular Scribner hardcover (ISBN 0-684-86762-5), $16.95, 224 pp, pub. April 6, 1999. PW also notes major ad/promo and Book-of-the-Month-Club / Quality Paperback Book Club featured-alternate selections (separate book-club runs, not part of the 1.25M trade figure). First-printing point: copyright-page number line reading 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2. NOTE — do NOT confuse with: (1) a signed/limited trade edition of the 1999 novel (signed copies exist but the 1.25M is the headline trade run); and (2) \"The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon: A Pop-Up Book\" — a SEPARATE 2004 adaptation by Peter Abrahams (Little Simon), of which there was a signed/numbered limited edition of 125 copies (King-signed on the pop-up inlay). That 125-copy figure belongs to the 2004 pop-up, NOT the 1999 novel. No source disagreement found on the 1,250,000 figure; this is an unusually well-documented King first printing because it is a late, big-publisher mass title rather than a scarce early-career book.

First-state points & errata

No documented first-state-vs-later-state errata; the number-line "1" and stated First Edition are the operative points.

Limited & signed editions

No signed/numbered slipcased limited of the NOVEL was issued at first publication (no Donald M. Grant / Cemetery Dance limited of the 1999 text). The notable limited is later and DIFFERENT: "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon: A Pop-Up Book" (Little Simon / Simon & Schuster, 2004; text adapted by Peter Abrahams, illustrated by Alan Dingman, paper engineering by Kees Moerbeek) — a SIGNED LIMITED of 125 numbered copies, signed by King on a pop-up inlay on the front cover, in a black cloth slipcase. This is an adaptation, not the first edition of the novel.

Market value estimate

~$25–$75

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

No confirmed sale found, so this is rated at no less than its original jacket price — a true first/first should hold at least retail in near-fine/fine condition. Soft estimate from dealer listings (treat as approximate): $25–75 unsigned (true first, fine/fine, unclipped); $400–900 author-signed/JSA-authenticated, fine/fine

Book-club edition (the trap): $5–15. Book-of-the-Month/Scribner book club edition is the dominant trap — it carries the SAME ISBN (0684867621) and even a number line, so it is constantly mislisted as a "first edition." Worth a few dollars. — a fraction of a true first; never pay first-edition money for one.

Condition sensitivity is LOW on the unsigned copy because supply is enormous (1.25M) — only true fine/fine matters, and even then ceiling is ~$75. The ENTIRE value is in the signature: an authentic King signature (title page or flyleaf), ideally JSA/Beckett-authenticated, lifts a fine copy to roughly $400-900 (dealers ask up to ~$1,100). THE SINGLE BIGGEST TRAP for this title: the book club edition shares the same ISBN AND a number line, so number line alone does NOT prove a trade first. Confirm the trade first by (1) the $16.95 price present on the unclipped front jacket flap, and (2) the ABSENCE of a book-club blind-stamp (small circle/square/dot) on the rear board and the absence of "Book Club Edition" on the lower jacket flap. A clipped jacket or any rear-board blind-stamp = not the collectible trade first. Ex-library and married/facsimile jackets further kill value.

Value sources:

Sources

Verification notes: Cross-checked two+ sources. Number line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2" confirmed by stephenkingcollector.com AND multiple AbeBooks first-edition listings. Price $16.95 confirmed by stephenkingcollector.com (via rarebookcellar listing) AND AbeBooks listings. Binding (quarter-bound, amber spine / black boards / gold wasp) confirmed by stephenking.fandom-sourced description AND AbeBooks. Jacket designer "Shasti O'Leary" from AbeBooks listing (single-source — MEDIUM confidence). Board/spine color descriptions vary slightly between dealers (black boards + gold wasp vs. "black spine + gray boards"); the load-bearing fact (quarter-bound / two-tone, plus gilt wasp) is consistent. Stated "First Edition" wording per Scribner convention but not photo-verified in sources reachable.

confidence: High on the decisive points (number line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2", price $16.95, quarter-bound two-tone binding with gilt wasp, trade hardcover IS true first). Medium on exact verbatim "First Edition" copyright wording (Scribner convention, not photo-verified) and on jacket designer (single source) and precise board-vs-spine color naming (dealer descriptions conflict slightly).← Back to all titles