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Different Seasons Collectible

1982 · The Viking Press (New York) — 625 Madison Avenue

First-edition cover of Different Seasons — First-edition jacket (first (Wikipedia infobox)) · source

What it’s about

Different Seasons gathers four Stephen King novellas, one for each season, that step outside his usual horror lane into stories of friendship, survival, and the darkness inside ordinary people. A wrongly convicted banker endures decades behind prison walls; four boys hike into the woods to find a dead body; a teenager strikes up a sinister bargain with an aged Nazi war criminal living in his suburb; and a doctor recounts a strange tale told at a gentlemen's club. It is King at his most novelistic, trading monsters for the cruelties and loyalties of human nature.

Significance A landmark 1982 collection whose novellas spawned three acclaimed films — "The Shawshank Redemption" (from "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption"), "Stand by Me" (from "The Body"), and "Apt Pupil" — making it one of the most-adapted works in King's canon.

Is this the true first?yes — trade hardcover original from The Viking Press, 1982. Not a paperback original; not a small-press first. 527 pp, octavo (~9.5" x 6.25").
YES — the Viking trade hardcover is the true first edition. There is NO small-press or limited edition preceding it (unlike Cycle of the Werewolf, The Eyes of the Dragon, or the early Dark Tower volumes). This is a four-novella collection ("Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption," "Apt Pupil," "The Body," "The Breathing Method"). No signed/numbered limited was issued at publication; signed copies exist only as author-inscribed/in-person-signed trade firsts (e.g., the Bauman copy inscribed "For Mary... Stephen King 7/24/82"). Reference: Brooks A17. The simultaneous US Book-Club Edition (BOMC/SFBC) is NOT a first and is a frequent trap because it shares the SAME copyright-page wording and SAME publisher address (625 Madison Avenue) as the true first (see BCE tells). ISBN 0-670-27266-3 (9780670272662), 527 pp.

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 statementCopyright page reads "First Published in 1982 by The Viking Press" (publisher address 625 Madison Avenue, New York) with NO additional later-printing/reprint notation and NO number line. A true first shows ONLY this statement. CRITICAL CAUTION: the Book Club Edition copyright page carries the SAME "First Published in 1982 by The Viking Press" wording and the same 625 Madison Avenue address, so the copyright page ALONE cannot prove a first — you must verify the dust jacket price ($16.95) and the blue-cloth/navy quarter-cloth binding (see BCE tells). Confirmed across veryfinebooks/nocloo identification guides and the stephenkingcollector forum admin collation.

Number lineNo number line. Viking did not print a printer's number line in this 1982 title; first printings are identified by the "First Published in 1982 by The Viking Press" statement standing alone (no "Second printing"/"Reprinted" line and no descending number row). Multiple identification guides (nocloo, veryfinebooks) and dealer collations confirm the absence of any numeral row. Later trade printings add a printing statement on the copyright page. (UNVERIFIED whether any later trade printing ever introduced a numeral line; none of the consulted dealer listings show one.)

Gutter / printer codeN/A (Viking title, not a Doubleday/printer gutter-code book)

First printing — copies~200,000 copies (first hardcover printing, The Viking Press, published Aug 27, 1982). Single trade hardcover printing — no signed/numbered limited edition for this title. accepted figure

First jacket price$16.95 (Upper front flap of the dust jacket; the first-issue jacket also carries a "0882" (08/82) date code at the foot of the front flap (Bauman). The publisher address 625 Madison Avenue also appears on the jacket. A price-clipped jacket hides the $16.95 and lowers value; on this title a missing price is the single biggest BCE giveaway (Book Club jackets carry NO price). Dealers describe it as "the 16.95 first state jacket.")

Board (panel) colorBlue cloth-covered boards. Multiple independent collations describe the binding as "blue cloth with dark blue/navy quarter [cloth] binding" (stephenkingcollector forum admin), "deep blue quarter cloth and blue paper boards," and "quarter-bound in dark blue cloth on blue boards." The author's initials are stamped in gilt on the upper board. NOTE/DISCREPANCY: sources split on whether the sides are blue CLOTH or blue PAPER-covered boards — Bauman/forum admin say cloth ("half blue cloth," "blue cloth"); some eBay/AbeBooks listings say "paper-covered boards." Net: lighter-blue sides + darker navy spine, two-tone. (One search summary erroneously reported "black boards with copper lettering" — that is a different King title bleeding into the summary; ALL primary dealer collations for Different Seasons report BLUE.)

Spine / center bindingDark navy/blue quarter cloth — the darker of the two tones, distinct from the lighter blue side boards. Spine lettering is in gilt and white. The book is quarter-/half-bound, so the navy spine cloth differs in color from the lighter blue sides.

Binding styleQuarter-/half-bound (two-tone): dark navy quarter cloth on the spine over lighter blue cloth-covered side boards; sewn binding (true first), octavo, 527 pp. Gilt + white spine lettering; author's initials in gilt on the upper board; white endpapers/pastedowns. Book Club copies tend to be glued, on thinner/lighter stock, and may use different binding material. (Some listings call the sides blue PAPER-covered boards rather than cloth — see boardColor discrepancy.)

Topstain / endpapersWhite endpapers and pastedowns (corroborated by AbeBooks collation describing "white endpapers and paste-downs"). Spine lettering in gilt and white; the author's initials are stamped in gilt on the upper board. No distinctive topstain color is recorded in the consulted sources — topstain appears to be plain (UNVERIFIED whether any stained top edge exists; none of the collations mention one).

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.

cover only — verify$225JMCbooksonlinenot shown — front jacket flap (where the $16.95 price prints) is folded under and not photographed; cannot confirm unclipped vs clipped. CONFIRMED vs

Dust jacket

Pictorial dust jacket with seasonal/allegorical cover imagery by Kinuko Y. Craft that, per reviewers, "perfectly encapsulates the diversity of the stories" — befitting the "four novellas, four seasons" theme. Title and author across the front, spine lettering, rear panel and flaps with publisher text (publisher address 625 Madison Avenue on the jacket). Author photo present on rear panel/back flap (standard for the period). Full first-state front-flap layout: $16.95 price at the upper front flap plus the "0882" date code at the foot of the flap. (Exhaustive front/back art description not collated from a single authoritative source; see Bookscans/Suntup print for a jacket image.)

Art / design: Kinuko Y. Craft (illustrator/cover artist). CONFIRMED — Suntup Editions' licensed fine-art-print page states this "stunning artwork by Kinuko Craft graced the first US edition of the novel in 1982," and the artwork was reused on subsequent paperbacks. The separately claimed jacket-DESIGN credit "R. Adelson" remains UNVERIFIED (single uncorroborated summary). NOT Rob Wood (Wood illustrated King's later-1990s Viking jackets).

https://www.baumanrarebooks.com/rare-books/king-stephen/different-seasons/115598.aspx

https://bookshopapocalypse.com/products/different-seasons-by-stephen-king-first-edition-first-printing-1982-viking

https://shop.suntup.press/products/different-seasons-cover-fine-art-print

Book-club edition & fakes — how to spot a wrong copyBook Club Edition (BOMC/SFBC) tells specific to Different Seasons: (1) NO price on the dust jacket — "if the dust jacket doesn't have a price, it's a book club edition" — and no "0882" date code; (2) "Book Club Edition" may be printed on the lower front jacket flap where the $16.95 would be; (3) small blind-stamp (indented dot/circle/square/maple-leaf) on the lower-right of the REAR board — a general BOMC/SFBC tell; (4) thinner/lighter/cheaper paper, slightly smaller trim, often glued rather than sewn; (5) the true first measures ~9.5" x 6.25" and is bound in blue cloth with navy quarter cloth — BCE bindings can differ in material/quality. NOTE: the copyright page is NOT a reliable tell here — the BCE carries the SAME "First Published in 1982 by The Viking Press" wording AND the same 625 Madison Avenue address as the true first; the forum admin warns that WITHOUT the dust jacket you cannot be certain whether a copy is trade or book club.

Also watch for: Title-specific cautions: (1) MARRIED JACKETS — sellers swap a damaged true-first jacket for a BCE jacket, or put a priced first-edition jacket on a BCE book; verify the book's blue-cloth/navy quarter-cloth binding AND the jacket's $16.95 + "0882" together. (2) PRICE-CLIPPED jackets — a clipped corner can hide that a jacket never had a price (BCE) being passed off as a clipped first; treat price-clipped examples with suspicion on this title. (3) "Without the dust jacket you cannot be certain trade vs. book club" (forum admin) — and a jacketless first is worth only a few dollars; the value is overwhelmingly in the priced DJ. (4) Ex-library copies (stamps, pockets, spine labels) and remainder marks (sprayed/marker dot to bottom edge) reduce value. (5) Facsimile/reproduction jackets exist; inspect paper/gloss and printing quality. Always confirm BOTH the book (blue cloth + navy quarter cloth, gilt initials on upper board, 527 pp) and the jacket (unclipped $16.95, "0882" date code) before paying first-edition money.

Print run & scarcity

Format: trade hardcover (Viking Press, NY, 1982; ISBN 0-670-27266-2), King's first collection of novellas (incl. "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" and "The Body"). The ~200,000-copy first-printing figure is the number that recurs across rare-book/dealer summaries; Viking did not announce an official press figure in the book, so treat it as the commonly-cited estimate rather than a publisher-confirmed number. NOT a Bachman title — published under Stephen King's own name. No Donald M. Grant or signed/numbered/lettered limited edition exists for the Viking first edition; collectible "first printing" copies are simply the standard trade hardcover with the full number line. Later Scribner reissues are separate printings and not relevant to the 1982 first-printing count.

First-state points & errata

No widely-documented internal text errata / state change separates first-state first printings for this title in the consulted references — the decisive points are external: the priced jacket ($16.95, "first state jacket" per dealers), the "0882" (08/82) date code at the foot of the front flap, and the blue-cloth/navy quarter-cloth binding. No first-state typo point is recorded by Brooks A17 in the sources reviewed. Dealers explicitly refer to "the 16.95 first state jacket," confirming the jacket price is the operative state point. UNVERIFIED beyond that.

Limited & signed editions

None at publication. No signed/numbered/traycased limited edition was issued for the 1982 Viking first. "Slipcased" copies offered by dealers are custom/aftermarket clamshell or slipcase housings added to a trade first, not a publisher limited. Author-signed copies are in-person-signed/inscribed trade firsts. (Suntup Editions later licensed the cover art for a fine-art print and has produced/announced fine-press King titles, but that is NOT part of the original 1982 first-edition identification.)

Market value estimate

~$150–$400

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): $150–400 (genuine unsigned trade first, fine/fine, unclipped $16.95/0882 jacket). Signed/inscribed firsts: ~$1,200–3,500+

Book-club edition (the trap): $15–40. Book Club Edition (Viking/BOMC) is abundant; the giveaway is a jacket with NO printed price (no $16.95, no 0882 date code), often single-tone boards, gold (not silver) spine lettering, and a blind-stamp/dot on the rear board. Worthless-to-junk relative to the trade first. — a fraction of a true first; never pay first-edition money for one.

Condition-driven: the dust jacket is ~80–90% of value — a clipped or married/facsimile jacket guts the price; spine fade and edge wear are the common downgraders. Signed adds large premium (flat signature ~5–10x unsigned; full inscription/association more). THE #1 DISCRIMINATOR for THIS title: it is a VIKING book — there is NO Doubleday gutter code (that's a red-herring trap from other SK titles). The real first's jacket carries the printed $16.95 price with the 0882 date code on the front flap and is two-toned blue boards with SILVER spine lettering; a Book Club Edition has NO price on the jacket at all (plus often gold spine lettering and a rear-board blind-stamp). Copyright page alone does NOT separate them — both BCE and trade share the same Viking copyright address, so judge by the jacket price/date-code and the board/lettering, never the copyright line.

Value sources:

Sources

Verification notes: Independent NEW sources added this pass: (a) HobbyLark Stephen King first-edition value guide; (b) Suntup Editions licensed cover-art print page (CONFIRMS jacket artist Kinuko Y. Craft "graced the first US edition in 1982"); (c) second stephenkingcollector forum thread t2215 (admin collation); (d) AbeBooks ISBN 9780670272662 page (527 pp, ISBN confirm); (e) eBay 145082963845 ("16.95 first state jacket"). CORRECTIONS vs draft: (1) JACKET ARTIST upgraded from low-confidence/UNVERIFIED to CONFIRMED Kinuko Y. Craft (Suntup + cross-search). The "R. Adelson" design credit stays UNVERIFIED. (2) ENDPAPERS resolved from UNVERIFIED to WHITE endpapers/pastedowns (AbeBooks collation); added gilt+white spine lettering and gilt author-initials on upper board. (3) PUBLISHER ADDRESS pinned to 625 Madison Avenue (forum admin) — sharper than draft's vague "same address"; this is the precise shared BCE-trap datum. (4) BOARD MATERIAL DISCREPANCY recorded: forum admin + Bauman say BLUE CLOTH sides ("blue cloth," "half blue cloth"); some eBay/AbeBooks listings say blue PAPER-covered boards. Draft asserted paper boards as fact; corrected to flag the split and prefer the dealer-collation "blue cloth" reading while noting both. (5) Flagged and rejected a stray search-summary claim of "black boards with copper lettering" — that is bleed-over from a different King title; every primary Different Seasons collation reports BLUE. (6) Added 527 pp + ISBN 0-670-27266-3 and ~9.5"x6.25" dimensions. CONFIRMED unchanged: $16.95 (Bauman/eBay/Bookshop Apocalypse/AbeBooks), "0882" front-flap date code (Bauman), "First Published in 1982 by The Viking Press" copyright statement (guides + forum), no number line, two-tone blue/navy quarter-cloth, Brooks A17, and the BCE same-copyright+same-address trap (forum admin: cannot be certain without the DJ). UNVERIFIED residuals: "R. Adelson" design credit; topstain color (likely plain/none); any internal first-state text errata (none documented). Two secondary dealer pages (secondstorybooks, Heritage/comics.ha.com, Ziesing) returned 403/406 and could not be read directly.

confidence: high — Price ($16.95), front-flap "0882" date code, "First Published in 1982 by The Viking Press" at 625 Madison Avenue, no number line, blue cloth boards with dark blue/navy quarter cloth, white endpapers, 527 pp / ISBN 0-670-27266-3, and the BCE same-copyright-and-address trap are all multi-source confirmed (Bauman, two stephenkingcollector forum threads, AbeBooks ISBN page, nocloo/veryfinebooks guides, HobbyLark). Jacket artist Kinuko Y. Craft CONFIRMED via Suntup Editions. Upgraded from the draft's medium-high. Residual low-confidence: the "R. Adelson" jacket-design credit (uncorroborated); cloth-vs-paper sides for the boards (sources split); any internal first-state text errata (none documented).← Back to all titles