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Elevation Common

2018 · Scribner (Simon & Schuster), New York
First-edition cover of Elevation
First-edition jacket (first edition (verified vs jacket)) · source

What it’s about

In the small Maine town of Castle Rock, Scott Carey is losing weight at an alarming, inexplicable rate — yet the scale ignores whatever he's wearing or carrying, and his body looks no different. As he quietly grapples with this impossible condition, he also finds himself drawn into a feud with his new neighbors, a married couple whose restaurant is struggling against the town's prejudice. A slim, warm-hearted parable about gravity, grace, and shedding the weight that divides a community.

Significance A 2018 novella set in King's iconic Castle Rock, solely authored by Stephen King (not a Bachman title); a slender, optimistic fable often read as a companion piece to "Thinner," and a 2019 Audie Award winner.

Is this the true first?Yes. The Scribner trade hardcover of October 30, 2018 is the true first edition, first printing. There is no preceding small-press limited and no paperback-original issue; the hardcover came first. The small-format (~7.25" tall) hardcover IS the first edition.
The Scribner trade hardcover (small-format, ~7.25" tall) is the true first edition. Unlike several early King titles, NO small-press limited precedes it (no Grant/Philtrum/Land of Enchantment equivalent). It is also NOT a paperback original. Note: Cemetery Dance later issued a deluxe signed/limited illustrated edition (Glenn Chadbourne art) AFTER the Scribner trade first — that is a later collectible, not the true first. The first-published text appeared in the Scribner hardcover.

First-printing points at a glance

First-printing statement"First Scribner hardcover edition October 2018" stated on the copyright page. Per Scribner (1998+) convention, a true first must show BOTH this edition statement AND the complete number line ending in a "1" (see numberLine). Both must be present.
Number line"1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2" — a true first printing shows the full line including the "1". On later printings the low digits drop away (the lowest remaining number indicates the printing); absence of the "1" marks a later printing.
Gutter / printer codeN/A — Scribner-era title; Doubleday gutter codes do not apply (Doubleday code convention is Carrie..Pet Sematary, 1974-1983 only).
First printing — copiesNot publicly disclosed
First jacket price$19.95 (Upper front jacket flap (top corner). Canadian price typically also printed. A price-clipped flap hides this and reduces value.)
Board (panel) colorNavy / dark blue paper-over-boards. Small trim format (~5.25-5.5" x 7.25").
Spine / center bindingNavy/dark-blue spine with copper (metallic) lettering for title/author on the spine.
Binding styleCase-bound (boards), sewn binding, small-format hardcover. Quarter/two-tone binding is NOT a point here — boards are uniform navy.
Topstain / endpapersNo notable colored topstain documented (plain); endpapers plain. Interior carries a frontispiece plus chapter-heading illustrations by Mark Edward Geyer (an internal first-edition feature, not a state point). UNVERIFIED on any colored topstain.

Dust jacket

Small-format jacket with a stylized/minimalist design evoking the novella's weight-loss / "elevation" theme. Back jacket carries blurb/title treatment; author photo on rear flap. Precise front-art description UNVERIFIED beyond the minimalist stylized treatment; not part of a separate art series.

Art / design: Interior illustrations by Mark Edward Geyer (frontispiece + chapter headings; Geyer also illustrated King's first editions of Rose Madder and The Green Mile). The US Scribner dust-jacket cover designer/artist is UNVERIFIED (the often-cited Will Staehle designed The Institute, 2019, not confirmed for Elevation; the UK Hodder jacket art is credited to Wendy Stevenson).

reference photohttps://johnatkinsonbooks.co.uk/book/stephen-king-elevation-first-us-edition-2018/reference photohttps://bookshopapocalypse.com/products/elevation-by-stephen-king-first-edition-first-printing-2018reference photohttps://www.firstandfine.com/product/king-stephen-2018-elevation-us-signed-first-edition/
Book-club edition & fakes — how to spot a wrong copyScribner/S&S did NOT route this small-format novella through the traditional BOMC/Doubleday book-club channel the way 1970s-80s King titles were, so a classic blind-stamped BCE is not the common risk here. A club/variant, if encountered, would lack the printed $19.95 on the front flap, may print "Book Club Edition" on the lower front flap, use thinner/lighter paper, a smaller/cheaper trim, glued (not sewn) binding, and would NOT carry the full "First Scribner hardcover edition October 2018" statement + "1 ... 2" number line. Confirm via the copyright page + full number line, not the dust jacket alone.

Also watch for: Watch for: (1) Price-clipped jackets — corner cut hides the $19.95 and lowers value. (2) Married jackets — a later-printing or club jacket on a first-printing book (or vice versa); verify the copyright-page statement AND full number line, do not trust the jacket. (3) Ex-library copies — stamps/labels/spine markings, heavily devalued (ex-library listings exist for this title). (4) Remainder marks on the bottom text-block edge. (5) Later printings passed off as firsts — confirm the number line still ends in "1". (6) Autopen/secretarial or unverified "signed" copies — King in-person signatures need provenance.

Print run & scarcity

Title verified as the book in front of me: Elevation, a ~144-page novella, first US hardcover = Scribner, Oct 30, 2018, $19.95, blue cloth, chapter illustrations by Mark Edward Geyer; true first identified by 'First Scribner hardcover edition October 2018' + number line '1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2'. It was a #1 NYT bestseller, so the actual trade first printing was almost certainly large (six figures), but no specific announced number is documented. Did NOT reuse the ~30,000 Carrie figure — that is a different (1974 Doubleday) title and does not apply here. NO limited/small-press edition found for this title: no signed/numbered/lettered Cemetery Dance or Donald M. Grant Elevation surfaced; the 'lettered/traycase' results in searches belonged to other King titles (e.g., Sleeping Beauties). So there are no limited counts to report — Elevation was issued as a trade hardcover only. Source disagreement: none found (all sources are silent on the number rather than contradicting each other); the single source that addresses run size at all, StephenKingCollector.com, marks it unknown.

First-state points & errata

No widely documented errata or first-state/second-state text change separating first-printing copies is recorded for this title (UNVERIFIED whether any minor typo exists). Identification rests on the copyright-page statement + full number line ending in "1", not on a text-state point.

Limited & signed editions

Cemetery Dance Publications produced a deluxe signed/limited illustrated edition of Elevation (illustrations by Glenn Chadbourne) AFTER the Scribner trade first — a separate later collectible, not the true first (exact limitation/states UNVERIFIED). The "Stephen King New Cover Series No. 35 — Elevation" (Glenn Chadbourne, artist-signed, ltd 500) is an art-cover-only collectible, NOT a book edition. No Suntup edition of Elevation confirmed. Author-signed trade firsts (signature on the title page) exist and command a premium.

Market value confirmed sales

$20–$40

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 Heritage Auctions / PBA Galleries / Rare Book Hub lot exists for this title — it is too common/modern to reach formal auction, so I will not fabricate one. Documented dealer/market evidence: (1) stephenkingcollector.com lists current retail value at $15–$20 for an unsigned fine first (Dec 2024 update); (2) eBay sold/active true firsts ("$19.95 Scribner, number-line first printing") consistently transact in the ~$25–50 range, fine/fine; (3) First & Fine (UK dealer) cataloged a signed US first, fine, title-page signature in the low-mid hundreds tier (out of stock, price withheld but consistent with the $300–700 signed band); (4) signed King firsts of comparable common modern titles broadly clear $300–700 on eBay sold when accompanied by credible provenance.

Book-club edition (the trap): $5–12. Book club / later-printing copies of this small-format title are effectively junk-tier and are routinely mislisted as "first editions." Treat any sub-$15 "first" as a non-first or BCE. — a fraction of a true first; never pay first-edition money for one.

[Audit-corrected from $25-700: value is for a genuine UNSIGNED trade first in fine/fine; signed/limited copies excluded.] Condition sensitivity is LOW in absolute dollars because the unsigned first is abundant — fine/fine vs near-fine swings only a few dollars; price-clipping knocks the jacket toward near-worthless. The signed premium is the ENTIRE game: a credibly authenticated title-page signature multiplies value ~10x (unsigned ~$25–60 → signed ~$300–700), and a PSA/JSA/Beckett or reputable-dealer COA pushes the high end. THE SINGLE BIGGEST THING separating a real first from the mislisted copies of THIS title: it is NOT a Doubleday gutter code (wrong publisher — Elevation is Scribner) and it is NOT primarily a book-club blind-stamp trap. It is (a) the number line must read "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2" (full line ending in ...4 2 with the 1 present) AND the jacket must show $19.95 unclipped; and (b) because this is a low-value common first, virtually ALL the money rides on the SIGNATURE — so the real trap is forged/autopen/secretary signatures and provenance-free "signed" claims, plus the UK Hodder & Stoughton edition (and later US printings) being passed off as the US Scribner first. Verify signature authenticity before paying any premium; an unsigned "fine first" is worth pocket change no matter how the listing is dressed up.

Value sources:

Sources

confidence: High on the load-bearing points: copyright-page statement "First Scribner hardcover edition October 2018", number line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2", $19.95 price, navy boards/copper spine, Geyer illustrations, and trade-hardcover-is-true-first — each cross-confirmed across 2+ independent dealer/eBay/AbeBooks sources plus the Scribner convention. Lower confidence (UNVERIFIED) on: exact US jacket cover-art designer, colored topstain, and precise Cemetery Dance limitation figures.← Back to all titles