11 Scribes · All titles · Viking & Putnam (1979-1997)

Firestarter Collectible

1980 · The Viking Press (New York) — trade hardcover. Preceding small-press signed limited: Phantasia Press (Huntington Woods, Michigan), issued ~September 1980, signed by King July 5-8 1980.

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

What it’s about

Andy McGee and his wife once volunteered for a shadowy government experiment with a low-dose hallucinogen called Lot Six — and the drug left them with strange psychic abilities. Now their young daughter Charlie has been born with a terrifying gift of her own: she can start fires with her mind, and her power is growing. As the secret agency known as The Shop hunts the family to capture and weaponize the girl, Andy and Charlie run for their lives across America.

Significance A solo Stephen King novel (not a Bachman title), adapted into the 1984 film starring a young Drew Barrymore and remade in 2022; a cornerstone of King's "psychic-kids vs. government" canon alongside Carrie and The Institute.

Is this the true first?Yes — Firestarter is a hardcover original. The Phantasia Press signed limited (725 numbered + 26 lettered) is the EARLIEST issue and is held by stephenkingcollector.com to be the "true 1st printing," predating the Viking trade by several months; the Viking 1980 trade hardcover is the true first TRADE edition (100,000-copy first printing). No paperback original exists. See trueFirstEdition.
Two-layer answer, both layers re-confirmed against collector sources. (1) The Phantasia Press signed limited is the EARLIEST issue and King's FIRST signed limited: 725 NUMBERED copies bound in BLUE cloth with silver lettering on spine and front board, in a blue cloth slipcase, with a Michael Whelan dust jacket (Whelan's first King commission); PLUS 26 LETTERED (A-Z) deluxe copies bound in aluminum-coated cloth — the famous "Asbestos Firestarter." All copies signed/numbered by King July 5-8, 1980; issued at $35; ISBN 0-932096-05-0 (9780932096050); 428 pp + limitation leaf. stephenkingcollector.com states it "is in fact the true 1st printing of Firestarter, predating the Viking trade edition by several months." The Viking copyright page itself carries the acknowledgment line "A limited first edition of this book has been published by Phantasia Press." (2) For the common trade collector, the VIKING 1980 hardcover is the true first trade edition. So: Phantasia limited = scarcest/earliest true first; Viking trade = true first trade edition. The Phantasia (Whelan) and Viking (Stroud) jackets are DIFFERENT and not interchangeable. CORRECTION vs draft: the draft described only the lettered copies' aluminum/asbestos binding and omitted that the 725 NUMBERED copies are blue-cloth/silver-lettered in a blue slipcase.

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 statementViking trade copyright page reads: "First Published in 1980 by The Viking Press" with Viking's "625 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10022" address, and carries the acknowledgment "A limited first edition of this book has been published by Phantasia Press." IMPORTANT CORRECTION: this "First Published in 1980 by The Viking Press" wording is NOT unique to the first printing — later printings (e.g., the fifth) retain the SAME statement and ADD a number line. The ONLY reliable trade-first tell is the ABSENCE of any number line / additional-printing statement on the copyright page. A first printing has NO number line; the Madison Avenue address should appear on both the copyright page and the jacket.

Number lineFirst printing: NO number line present on the copyright page (the key tell). Later Viking printings carry a descending number line whose leading digit indicates the printing (documented examples: a fourth printing line begins with 4, a fifth with 5), while retaining the "First Published in 1980 by The Viking Press" statement and the same "0980" jacket. If you see ANY number line, it is NOT a first printing.

Gutter / printer codeN/A for the Viking TRADE first (identified by the no-number-line copyright page, not a gutter code). The VIKING BOOK CLUB EDITION does carry a small alphanumeric gutter code (examples seen on copies: K48, K39, W31, MP4Z); presence of such a code, with a blind-stamp and no-price "Book Club Edition" jacket, marks a club copy. The specific code-to-date mappings circulated by sellers are NOT backed by a published collector key (per stephenkingcollector.com), so use the code's presence — not its claimed date — as the BCE signal.

First printing — copiesNot publicly disclosed

First jacket price$13.95 (Front flap (upper area) of the dust jacket, with the jacket code "0980" also on the front flap. NOTE: "0980" and "$13.95" are shared by several early Viking printings (incl. the 5th), so they confirm a Viking jacket but do NOT by themselves prove a first printing — pair with the no-number-line copyright page. A price-clipped flap hides the $13.95 and lowers value.)

Board (panel) colorBlack paper-covered boards, with gilt "SK" initials stamped on the front board. (One outlier search summary read the boards as "beige"; the weight of dealer and collector sources — stephenkingcollector, thefirstedition, Heritage, multiple AbeBooks dealers — is consistently BLACK boards.)

Spine / center bindingQuarter-cloth spine in the red/orange family — dealers describe the cloth variably as red, amber, or orange — lettered/stamped in gilt (with black on the spine title). Quarter-bound (two-tone): cloth spine over black boards, NOT full cloth.

Binding styleQuarter-bound hardcover: cloth spine (red/orange/amber per dealer) over black paper-covered boards, two-tone, gilt "SK" on front board, sewn binding, octavo. Page count: stephenkingcollector lists 426 pp; thefirstedition.com and the Heritage listing cite 428 pp — minor source disagreement, ~426-428 pp.

Topstain / endpapersTop edge stained RED (top-stain red), confirmed across multiple dealer descriptions. Endpapers: plain/unprinted; the draft's "blue patterned endpapers" note remains UNVERIFIED and is likely a confusion — treat endpapers as plain unless a specific copy 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.

✓ 1st/1st confirmed$250PSBooksunclipped $13.95 (present on front flap, photo 8). Confirmed trade first/first printing. Buyer-relevant points: (1) The front-flap "0980" jacket code cover only — verify$360Burm Booksellersjacket-flap-unpriced-per-seller-text-NOT-clipped (unverifiable; no photo). NO seller photos exist. Every image on the page is a STOCK placeholder — on cover only — verify$375James Graham Booksellerjacket price NOT visible in any photo (no flap shown); seller TEXT states 'unclipped' but $13.95 price cannot be confirmed from the image. Exactly ONE photos unclear$206.50BookManBookWoman Booksnot shown in any photo; seller TEXT claims jacket is "not clipped" but no photo exists to confirm, and the $13.95 first-issue price is never quoted by

Dust jacket

Front panel: stark image of glowing green eyes seen through orange/red flames against a dark ground, with title and author lettering (Stroud art). Spine and back continue the dark/flame motif. Front flap carries the $13.95 price and "0980" code. Rear flap/panel per Viking convention. (The "first-printing jacket produced slightly shorter than the boards" claim is anecdotal and not corroborated by the collector sources reviewed — treat as unverified rather than a diagnostic.)

Art / design: Viking trade jacket art: Steven Stroud (glowing green eyes seen through orange/red flames). The PHANTASIA Press limited uses a DIFFERENT jacket by Michael Whelan (Whelan's first King commission). A Whelan jacket on a "Viking" trade book is wrong — that art belongs to the Phantasia limited.

https://thefirstedition.com/product/firestarter/

https://www.stephenkingcollector.com/limited/firestarter.html

https://www.michaelwhelan.com/firestarter-signed-and-remarqued/

Book-club edition & fakes — how to spot a wrong copyViking 1980 Book Club Edition tells for THIS title: (1) a small alphanumeric GUTTER CODE in the inner margin (documented examples seen on copies: K48, K39, W31, MP4Z; sellers map K48 to ~Nov 1980) — CAUTION: stephenkingcollector.com's administrator states there is NO authoritative published key matching King BCE gutter codes to dates, so treat individual seller date-mappings as unverified; the PRESENCE of a gutter code is the reliable signal, the exact date is not; (2) a blind-stamp (small indented dot/square) typically on the rear board; (3) "Book Club Edition" printed on the lower front jacket flap; (4) NO price on the jacket (vs the trade's $13.95); (5) thinner/cheaper paper, often glued rather than sewn; (6) smaller/lighter feel. The trade first, by contrast, has the $13.95/"0980" jacket, gilt "SK" front board, and the no-number-line copyright page. NOTE: the often-cited BCE-vs-trade trim/page-count gap is not strongly documented for this title; do not rely on trim size alone — use the gutter code + blind-stamp + no-price jacket.

Also watch for: (1) Married jackets — a later-printing or club book in a Viking jacket: ALWAYS verify the copyright page has NO number line, since the $13.95/"0980" jacket is shared by early printings and does not itself prove a first. (2) Book-club copies misrepresented as trade firsts — check for a gutter code, rear-board blind-stamp, glued binding, and a "Book Club Edition"/no-price jacket. (3) Price-clipped jackets hide the $13.95. (4) A Whelan jacket sold as "the Firestarter first" — that art belongs to the Phantasia limited, not the Viking trade (Stroud). (5) Ex-library copies and remainder marks reduce value. (6) Restored/rebacked copies. (7) Be skeptical of the "jacket shorter than the boards is normal" claim used to excuse a married or trimmed jacket — it is not a documented diagnostic for this title.

Print run & scarcity

The trade Viking first printing run is undocumented at the unit level; King's print runs ballooned after Carrie/The Shining/The Dead Zone, and Firestarter's commonness in the secondary market is itself evidence of a very large run (which is WHY the unsigned trade first is inexpensive relative to scarcer King firsts). Treat any specific trade-run number seen online (e.g., '100,000') as an estimate, not a verified figure. Documented, citable quantities exist only for the limited editions (Phantasia 725+26; Grant 26 lettered).

First-state points & errata

Primary and essentially SOLE point: absence of any number line / printing statement on the copyright page (later printings ADD a descending number line whose lead digit equals the printing — a fifth-printing line begins with 5). The Phantasia acknowledgment line appears on the trade copyright page (all printings, not a first-only tell). CORRECTION vs draft: the jacket code "0980" on the front flap is NOT a first-printing-only tell — a documented FIFTH printing carries the identical "0980" front-flap jacket and the same $13.95 price; the jacket was not re-coded across early printings. No widely documented TEXT errata (typo state) separating first-state first printings of the Viking trade are reported in collector references; the no-number-line copyright page is the decisive tell.

Limited & signed editions

Phantasia Press (Huntington Woods, MI), 1980 — King's FIRST signed limited. 725 NUMBERED copies: signed/numbered by King, BLUE cloth with silver lettering (spine + front board), blue cloth slipcase, Michael Whelan dust jacket, 428 pp + limitation leaf, ISBN 0-932096-05-0. PLUS 26 LETTERED (A-Z) deluxe copies bound in aluminum-coated cloth — the "Asbestos Firestarter," King's scarcest collectible. Issued at $35. VALUE CORRECTION: numbered ~$3,000-$5,000 in fine; lettered ~$50,000-$55,000 per stephenkingcollector (the draft's "~$10,000+" understates the lettered). Later 2022 Whelan signed/remarqued JACKET-ONLY tiers exist but are not the book.

Market value confirmed sales

$150–$450 (genuine unsigned Viking trade first, fine/fine, unclipped $13.95 jacket); signed firsts $1,200–$2,000+

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

Confirmed sales: Donald M. Grant lettered ltd (1 of 26), signed, fine — ~$23,500 (dealer/auction-grade sale, reported 2025) — NOTE: limited, not the trade first. Phantasia Press ltd (1 of 751), signed, slipcased w/ Whelan DJ — consistently $1,500–$2,500 range across AbeBooks/Biblio SOLD records. Unsigned Viking trade first, signed-by-author fine copy dealer-sold ~$1,398 (Act2/AbeBooks dealer sale). Plain unsigned Viking trade first, fine/fine unclipped — dealer/eBay SOLD typically $150–$400 (e.g. The First Edition Rare Books VG copy sold; multiple eBay 'true 1st' sold listings in $120–$350 band).

Book-club edition (the trap): $10–$35 (Book-of-the-Month / Viking BCE — the dominant trap; common, low value even with jacket) — a fraction of a true first; never pay first-edition money for one.

Firestarter had a large first print run and is one of the MORE COMMON King 1980-era firsts, so the unsigned trade first is modestly priced — condition and an UNCLIPPED $13.95 jacket are everything; a price-clipped or restored/married jacket cuts value 40–60%. Foxing/spine-toning (endemic to this title's paper) drags most copies to VG. Signed/inscribed copies jump to four figures ($1,200–$2,000+). THE #1 THING separating a real first from the mislisted copies of THIS title: check the REAR BOARD for a book-club blind-stamp (small deboss/dot at lower-right) AND confirm the jacket carries the $13.95 front-flap price — BCEs have the blind stamp, a price-LESS jacket, are physically smaller/lighter, and are constantly listed as 'BCE first edition.' Also note: the brief's 'Doubleday gutter code' point is a distractor — that applies to The Shining/earlier King; Firestarter is Viking, identified by 'First published in 1980 by The Viking Press' with no later-printing statement/number line.

Value sources:

Sources

Verification notes: VERIFICATION PASS findings, with corrections to the draft where sources disagreed:

1) NEW INDEPENDENT SOURCES added (not in draft sources[]): the documented FIFTH-PRINTING AbeBooks listing (BiblioFile) showing how later printings are marked; secondstorybooks.com Phantasia #200/725 listing; three eBay BCE listings (K48, MP4Z, W31 gutter codes); and the stephenkingcollector.com BCE-printings FORUM thread.

2) "0980" jacket code is NOT a first-printing identifier (DRAFT OVERSTATED). The documented fifth-printing copy carries the SAME "0980" front-flap jacket, the SAME $13.95 price, AND the SAME "First Published in 1980 by The Viking Press" statement — it differs ONLY by a number line beginning with 5. Conclusion: the ABSENCE of a number line on the copyright page is the sole reliable trade-first tell; firstStatePoints/numberLine/jacketPriceLocation updated accordingly.

3) Phantasia limited binding corrected/expanded. stephenkingcollector + dealer listings confirm 725 NUMBERED = BLUE cloth, silver lettering (spine + front board), blue slipcase; the 26 LETTERED = aluminum-coated cloth ("Asbestos Firestarter"). The draft described only the lettered binding. Signed July 5-8 1980; issued $35; ISBN 0-932096-05-0; 428pp + limitation leaf.

4) Phantasia VALUES corrected: stephenkingcollector lists numbered ~$3,000-$4,000 (dealers ~$4,000-$5,000) and LETTERED ~$50,000-$55,000 — the draft's "~$10,000+" understated the lettered tier.

5) Board color confirmed BLACK (gilt "SK" on front board, a detail the draft omitted); spine cloth read variably as red/orange/amber by dealers. One search summary's "beige boards" is an outlier and was rejected.

6) BCE gutter-code DATE key softened: gutter codes K48/K39/W31/MP4Z appear on confirmed BCE copies, but the stephenkingcollector forum administrator states there is NO authoritative published key matching King BCE gutter codes to dates — so presence of a code is diagnostic, the seller-claimed date is not.

7) Page count is a SOURCE CONFLICT: stephenkingcollector = 426pp; thefirstedition.com and Heritage = 428pp. Recorded as ~426-428pp rather than the draft's flat 428.

8) "Jacket shorter than the boards" and "blue patterned endpapers" remain UNVERIFIED — not corroborated by the collector sources reviewed; demoted from diagnostic to anecdote/unverified.

9) CONFIRMED as drafted: red top-edge stain; quarter-bound (not full cloth); Stroud (Viking trade) vs Whelan (Phantasia) jacket distinction; Madison Avenue address on copyright page + jacket; 100,000-copy Viking first printing; the Phantasia-acknowledgment line on the trade copyright page.

confidence: High on the load-bearing tells — no-number-line copyright page, $13.95/"0980" front-flap jacket (NOT first-only), black boards with gilt "SK"/quarter red-orange cloth spine, red top-stain, Stroud (trade) vs Whelan (Phantasia) jackets, and the Phantasia 725-numbered (blue cloth) + 26-lettered (aluminum "asbestos") split — each corroborated by 2+ sources (stephenkingcollector.com, thefirstedition.com, multiple AbeBooks/Biblio/secondstorybooks dealers, eBay BCE listings). Medium/low on: exact page count (426 vs 428 source split), the BCE gutter-code DATE mappings (presence solid, date key unverified per stephenkingcollector forum), endpaper color (UNVERIFIED), and the "jacket shorter than boards" anecdote (unverified).← Back to all titles