11 Scribes · All titles · Doubleday Era (1974-1983)

The Shining Crown jewel

1977 · Doubleday & Company, Inc. (Garden City, NY)

First-edition cover of The Shining — First-edition jacket (first (Wikipedia infobox)) · source

What it’s about

Recovering alcoholic and aspiring writer Jack Torrance takes a job as winter caretaker of the isolated Overlook Hotel high in the Colorado Rockies, moving in with his wife Wendy and their five-year-old son Danny once the last guests leave and the snows seal them off. Danny possesses "the shining," a psychic gift that lets him sense things others cannot — and the empty hotel, it turns out, has a memory and appetites of its own. As cabin fever and the Overlook's malign influence tighten around the family, the line between haunting and madness begins to blur.

Significance King's third published novel (1977) and his first hardcover bestseller, it inspired Stanley Kubrick's iconic 1980 film and King's own 1997 TV miniseries; King later wrote a direct sequel, Doctor Sleep (2013).

Is this the true first?Yes. The Doubleday trade hardcover (published January 28, 1977) is the true first edition. No small-press limited or paperback original precedes it; this was King's third Doubleday novel (after Carrie and 'Salem's Lot) and there is no earlier issue. First printing was ~25,000 copies. Formal bibliographic references: Currey 227, Brooks A4, Collings A19 (per Bauman Rare Books).
The Doubleday trade hardcover IS the true first. Unlike later King titles (e.g. The Eyes of the Dragon / Philtrum Press, Cycle of the Werewolf / Land of Enchantment, early Dark Tower / Donald M. Grant), The Shining had no preceding small-press or limited edition and no contemporaneous signed/limited issue. The 1977 Doubleday first printing (gutter code R49 at p.447) is the apex collectible.

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 statement"FIRST EDITION" stated as the last line on the copyright page (confirmed Red Fox Rare Books, Bookpoi, Bauman Rare Books). CRITICAL: the statement alone is NOT sufficient — Doubleday of this era was inconsistent and the "First Edition" slug behavior cannot be relied on alone, so it must be paired with the R49 gutter (data) code at the inner margin of page 447 to confirm a true first. (Conversely, copies lacking any "First Edition" statement are later printings or BCEs.)

Number lineNo number line. Doubleday of this era did not use a descending or ascending number line (confirmed by absence in Bauman Rare Books' bibliographically-cited description; a number line "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10" claimed by one AI-SEO source is FALSE and rejected). First-printing identification rests on (1) "First Edition" on the copyright page AND (2) the alphanumeric gutter/data code R49 at the inner margin of p.447. The SECOND printing is S3; later trade printings run S3–S10, S14, S19. The stated book-club issue is reported with code R52 (and/or lacks the "First Edition" statement), but jacket/board construction is the more reliable BCE discriminator.

Gutter / printer codeR49 — located in the gutter/inner margin at the foot of the last text page (page 447) (confirmed Bauman Rare Books: "Data code 'R49' appears at inner margin of page 447"; Red Fox; Bookpoi). "R" = year of printing (1977), "49" = week 49 (per Red Fox, December 1977). This is the single most important point; a true first MUST show R49. The SECOND printing is gutter code S3 (printed ~six weeks later, still 1977 — confirmed Edwards Rare Books: "First printing has R49 code, with this printing run occurring six weeks later"); later trade printings run S3–S10, S14, S19. The Doubleday book-club edition is reported with gutter code R52 (corroborated by an eBay BCE listing titled "1st Book Club Edition R52 Gutter Code" + stephenkingcollector forum), but BCEs can carry other codes too, so the gutter code alone does not always separate trade later-printings from BCEs — jacket/board construction is the corroborating tell.

First printing — copies~25,000 copies (widely and consistently reported first-printing figure; not from an official Doubleday production record) accepted figure

First jacket price$8.95 (Inside front jacket flap, at the head of the flap printed just below the "T.S." (The Shining) abbreviation (confirmed Red Fox: "$8.95 positioned below 'T.S.'"). A price-clipped flap hides this and lowers value. NOTE: $8.95 is NOT by itself a first-printing proof — later trade printings S3–S10/S14/S19 also carry the $8.95 jacket; the R49 gutter code (plus the green-lions back wrap-around) is what confirms a first. A later (1980s) printing jacket reads $18.95 (Bookshop Apocalypse later-printing listing).)

Board (panel) colorTan / dark-yellow ("yellow") paper-covered boards (Red Fox: "Tan paper boards"; Bookpoi/search snippet: "yellow boards"; sources variously describe tan / dark-yellow / pale-yellow — a pale tan-yellow paper over boards). NOTE: some early Doubleday book-club copies instead have all-black or all-green boards with no cloth spine; full-size BCEs that mimic the trade (black cloth spine + tan boards) are betrayed by the solid-green jacket back rather than the board color.

Spine / center bindingBlack cloth backstrip (spine), with title/author stamped in gilt (gold) (Red Fox: "black cloth binding and gold lettering on spine"; Bauman: "Original half black cloth"). Binding is half/quarter cloth (two-tone).

Binding styleHalf / quarter-bound (two-tone): black cloth spine over tan/dark-yellow paper-covered boards (Bauman: "Original half black cloth"). Trade firsts are sewn. Pagination [viii], 447, [1] pp; octavo (8vo).

Topstain / endpapersUNVERIFIED — no authoritative source consulted (Red Fox, Bauman, Edwards, Bookpoi, forum) documents a topstain color or distinctive endpaper for this title; treat as plain/unstained unless a copy in hand shows otherwise.

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.

likely first$1050The Lost BookstorePRICE-CLIPPED (condition caveat, not a disqualifier): front flap price corner absent; seller explicitly states 'price clipped dust jacket'. Original $cover only — verify$799Great and rare booksSeller's TEXT states it retains the original $8.95 and is the 'true first state jacket' (NOT price-clipped), but the $8.95 price is NOT legible in any cover only — verify$2250B & B Rare BooksSeller text states UNCLIPPED dust jacket, but no flap/price is photographed, so the $8.95 first-state price is UNVERIFIED from the image. Listed US$2,

3 listings flagged wrong-edition / later printing and hidden.

Dust jacket

Front panel: Dave Christensen's stylized horror cover art with bold glowing title "The Shining" and the author name; the price $8.95 sits at the head of the inside front flap, just below the "T.S." abbreviation. The art wraps slightly around to the BACK panel as a green-lions image on the true first (dropped on later trade printings). Rear flap carries a photograph of a young Stephen King and the ISBN; flap copy notes King had published only two prior books (Carrie, 'Salem's Lot). The book-club jacket instead shows a SOLID/plain green back panel.

Art / design: Dave Christensen — pictorial dust-jacket cover art/design (the eerie wrap-around illustration with the green-lions back panel), with typography by Al Nagy (per Red Fox: "cover design by Dave Christensen, typography by Al Nagy"). Author-portrait photographer (young King photo on rear flap) not separately credited in sources consulted.

https://www.redfoxrarebooks.com/firsteditionpoints/2024/3/13/how-to-identify-the-true-first-edition-of-stephen-kings-the-shining

https://thefirstedition.com/product/the-shining/

https://www.baumanrarebooks.com/rare-books/king-stephen/shining/123333.aspx

Book-club edition & fakes — how to spot a wrong copyThe Doubleday BCE is the trap on this title. Tells: (1) NO "First Edition" / no printing statement reliably present — gutter code is the main dating; the stated BCE is reported with gutter code R52 (corroborated by an eBay BCE listing explicitly titled "1st Book Club Edition R52 Gutter Code" + stephenkingcollector forum), though BCEs can carry other codes too, so combine with construction. (2) DUST JACKET: the BCE jacket has a SOLID/plain GREEN back panel — distinct from the true first, whose back carries the cover-art wrap-around showing green LIONS. Full-size BCEs that copy the trade construction (black cloth spine + tan boards) are given away by this solid-green jacket back and by "Book Club Edition" on the flap with NO price. (3) BOARDS: many early BCEs have all-black or all-green boards with NO cloth spine (cheaper case); construction unlike the trade's black-cloth-spine/tan-boards is an immediate BCE flag. (4) Blind-stamp: BCEs of this era typically carry a small blind-stamped indent on the lower-right rear board — but some Doubleday BCEs of THIS title lack BOTH the blind-stamp AND a "Printed at The Haddon Craftsmen" title-page line, so absence of a blind-stamp does NOT prove a first; rely on the gutter code + jacket. (5) Often smaller/cheaper paper, lighter weight, sometimes glued. Bottom line: confirm R49 in the gutter of p.447 + "First Edition" on the copyright page + green-lions (not solid-green) jacket back + $8.95 below "T.S." on the front flap. Anything else (R52, S-codes, solid-green jacket back, "Book Club Edition" on flap, no price) is not the true first.

Also watch for: Most common trap: the far-more-common Doubleday BOOK CLUB EDITION sold as a first — verify R49 (not R52/S-codes), a green-LIONS (not solid-green) jacket back, and the $8.95 flap price. ADVERSARIAL CAUTION: do NOT trust SEO/AI-generated identification pages that claim a "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10" number line or a "sivun/syvin" page-447 misprint — both are FALSE for this title (Doubleday used NO number line; no reputable dealer cites any errata). Married jackets: a later-printing or facsimile jacket placed on a first-printing book — confirm the jacket carries $8.95 (not $18.95), has the green-lions back wrap-around, and is not a color photocopy/facsimile. Beware later-printing jackets pairing an $8.95 wrapper with a non-first book (and vice versa) — match the jacket points to the R49 book. Price-clipped jackets hide the price and lower value. Ex-library copies (stamps, pockets, spine labels) and remainder marks (sprayed/dotted bottom edge) reduce value. Restored/sophisticated copies and reproduction jackets exist — buy from reputable dealers who explicitly state R49 at p.447, unclipped $8.95 jacket with green-lions back, and "First Edition" on the copyright page.

Print run & scarcity

The 25,000-copy figure for the first Doubleday printing is repeated across rare-book dealer and Stephen King collector references (Red Fox Rare Books, stephenkingcollector). It should be treated as the long-standing collector-community consensus number rather than a documented Doubleday press figure — no primary publisher print-order document is published. Publication was Jan/late-1977; the R49 code denotes the 1977 print week. Doubleday's poor binding/jacket stock means survivorship in fine condition is low, which drives the price premium more than absolute rarity of the print run.

First-state points & errata

First-state JACKET point: the true-first dust jacket carries a slight wrap-around of the cover art onto the back panel showing GREEN LIONS; later trade printings DROPPED this wrap-around and were also produced at a slightly larger trim (collector report, stephenkingcollector.com $8.95-jackets forum). There is NO documented internal text/errata typo point for this title — top-tier dealer descriptions with full bibliographic citations (Bauman Rare Books: Currey/Brooks/Collings) cite NO first-state errata. ADVERSARIAL NOTE: a low-quality AI-generated SEO page (stephenkingly.com) claims a page-447 "sivun"/"syvin" misprint — this is UNCORROBORATED by any reputable source and is REJECTED as fabricated ("sivun" is a Finnish word, a tell of machine-garbled content). First-state vs later-state identification rests on (1) "First Edition" on the copyright page, (2) R49 data code at p.447, and (3) the green-lions wrap-around on the unclipped $8.95 jacket.

Limited & signed editions

No contemporaneous (1977) signed/numbered or traycased limited edition exists for The Shining. (No Doubleday limited; no small-press limited preceded the trade.) Author-signed first-edition trade copies command large premiums (e.g. Bauman Rare Books signed-on-title-page copy in clamshell) but are not a separate "limited" issue. UNVERIFIED on any later fine-press facsimile/anniversary limited.

Market value confirmed sales

$1,200–2,500 (genuine first/first, fine/fine, unclipped $8.95 jacket, unsigned); signed/inscribed $2,500–4,500+

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

Confirmed sales: Signed/inscribed 1st/1st (inscribed "Stephen King 1/23/92"), R49 present, near-fine $8.95 jacket — sold $2,000, Nate D. Sanders (Oct 2019). True first ed. in dust jacket, FAIR condition (worn/tattered jacket, foxing) — sold ~$307 incl. premium, Bonhams/Skinner (lot 25, auction 30277) — a low-grade floor comp. Dealer market (stephenkingcollector reference): fine/fine unsigned cataloged at $600–900 baseline, with strong-jacket and signed copies trading materially higher.

Book-club edition (the trap): $15–60. Book Club Edition (BOMC) is the dominant trap: smaller, lighter boards, NO R49 gutter code, blind-stamp (circle or maple-leaf) on the rear board, and a jacket with NO printed price (or a clean-clipped corner). Worth a tiny fraction; ex-library true firsts also collapse to ~$50–150. — a fraction of a true first; never pay first-edition money for one.

Condition is the entire game — Doubleday used cheap boards and jacket stock, so true fine/fine copies are genuinely scarce and command a steep premium over the common VG-rumpled copies; the $8.95 first-state jacket MUST be present and unclipped (an $18.95 jacket = later printing; a clipped jacket guts value 30–50%). Signed/inscribed adds roughly $1,000–2,500 over an equivalent unsigned copy. THE single point that separates a real first from the mislisted copies: the "R49" printer's gutter code in the inner margin of page 447 PLUS "First Edition" stated as the last line of the copyright page AND a $8.95-priced jacket — and crucially NO book-club blind-stamp on the rear board. If R49 is absent or there's a blind-stamp dimple on the back cover, it's a BCE regardless of what the listing claims.

Value sources:

Sources

Verification notes: SECOND ADVERSARIAL PASS — re-confirmed against NEW independent sources beyond the draft: Bauman Rare Books (ABAA, bibliographically cited), Bookpoi, nocloo, stephenking.com official PDF (binary, not parseable but cited as authority), an eBay BCE listing, and stephenkingly.com (rejected as unreliable). FINDINGS: (1) Page 447 location of R49 is now INDEPENDENTLY CONFIRMED by Bauman ("Data code 'R49' appears at inner margin of page 447"), resolving a forum poster's imprecise "page 449" remark — draft's p.447 is CORRECT. (2) NUMBER-LINE DISCREPANCY RESOLVED IN DRAFT'S FAVOR: one source (stephenkingly.com) and a search snippet claim a "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10" number line. This is FALSE — Doubleday of this era used NO number line (the very reason the R49 gutter code is the dating mechanism), and Bauman's full bibliographic description cites no number line. Draft's "No number line" stands; the conflicting source is REJECTED. (3) ERRATA CLAIM REJECTED: stephenkingly.com alleges a page-447 "sivun/syvin" misprint as a first-state point — UNCORROBORATED by any reputable dealer (Red Fox, Bauman, Edwards, Bookpoi cite none); "sivun" is a Finnish word, a tell of AI-garbled content. Draft's "no internal errata" stands. (4) SECOND PRINTING = S3 re-confirmed (Edwards: "First printing has R49 code, with this printing run occurring six weeks later"). (5) BCE = R52 re-confirmed via a NEW source (eBay listing titled "1st Book Club Edition R52 Gutter Code"). (6) First-state green-lions back-panel wrap-around re-confirmed (stephenkingcollector forum: "The actual first edition dust jacket has a slight wrap around on the back show green lions ... later printings ... were also slightly bigger"). (7) Binding re-confirmed: Bauman "Original half black cloth"; Red Fox "tan paper boards with black cloth binding and gold lettering"; jacket designer Dave Christensen + typography Al Nagy (Red Fox). (8) Pub date Jan 28 1977 / ~25,000-copy run re-confirmed. Topstain/endpaper still UNVERIFIED. Value remains a dealer-listing estimate. NET: draft was accurate on all load-bearing points; this pass HARDENED it by (a) independently re-confirming p.447 via Bauman, and (b) actively rejecting two false claims (number line + errata) that an unwary checker could have inserted.

confidence: High on the load-bearing points — R49 gutter/data code at the inner margin of p.447 (now independently re-confirmed by Bauman Rare Books with formal bibliographic citations), "First Edition" copyright statement, NO number line (confirmed by Bauman's bibliographically-cited description omitting any number line — contradicting one AI-SEO source), $8.95 jacket price below "T.S." on the front flap, tan/yellow boards with black cloth spine + gilt, Dave Christensen jacket / Al Nagy typography, January 28 1977 / ~25,000 copies, second printing = S3 (Edwards), and BCE = R52 (eBay listing + forum) — each cross-confirmed across 6+ independent collector/dealer sources. Medium on BCE construction specifics (blind-stamp/Haddon Craftsmen variability). Low on topstain-endpapers (UNVERIFIED) and exact value (estimate, not a cited guide).← Back to all titles