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Gwendy's Magic Feather Common

Richard Chizmar — SOLO AUTHOR. IMPORTANT: Stephen King is NOT a writing/co-author credit on this volume. King contributes only a short FOREWORD (and, exclusively in the signed/limited deluxe states, a separate bonus piece). Book 2 of the Gwendy Trilogy is Chizmar's solo middle volume — King co-wrote only Book 1 (Gwendy's Button Box) and Book 3 (Gwendy's Final Task). Bookseller/retailer metadata that lists "Chizmar, Richard; King, Stephen" as joint authors (e.g. Amazon's listing for the limited, ISBN 9781587677328) is a cataloging artifact of King's foreword, not a co-writing credit. INDEPENDENTLY RE-CONFIRMED: AbeBooks lists Chizmar as sole author with King "FRW" (foreword); the independent afterword.co.uk review calls it "very much a solo effort by Chizmar."

2019 · Cemetery Dance Publications (Forest Hill / Baltimore, MD, USA)

First-edition cover of Gwendy's Magic Feather — First-edition jacket

What it’s about

Years after a stranger entrusted her with a mysterious button box, Gwendy Peterson is now a grown woman and a U.S. Congresswoman when the dangerous, wish-granting device reappears in her life without warning. As her hometown of Castle Rock is rattled by the disappearance of two local girls and the world feels increasingly precarious, Gwendy must decide whether the box is a tool she can control or a temptation she cannot resist.

Significance The middle volume of the Castle Rock-set "Button Box" trilogy and the only one written solo by Richard Chizmar (King co-wrote the bookends, "Gwendy's Button Box" in 2017 and "Gwendy's Final Task" in 2022); first published in hardcover by Cemetery Dance.

Is this the true first?Yes — the Cemetery Dance trade hardcover (ISBN 978-1-58767-731-1, Nov 19, 2019, $25.00) is the true first edition / first printing. Cemetery Dance is the original publisher; the publisher marketed it as a "Limited ONE TIME Hardcover Printing! NO Second Printing!" so the first printing is the only US hardcover printing. The mass-market Gallery/Simon & Schuster paperback (ISBN 9781982139728) came LATER in 2020 and is not a first. RE-CONFIRMED via independent dealer/aggregator metadata (AbeBooks, Goodreads, Biblio) — all list the 2019 Cemetery Dance HARDCOVER as the first edition.
Cemetery Dance Publications trade hardcover, November 19, 2019, ISBN 978-1-58767-731-1, $25.00. This is the genuine first edition, first printing — a one-time Cemetery Dance hardcover printing with no second printing ever issued. The signed/limited states (slipcased 750 and lettered 52, ISBN 9781587677328) are simultaneous deluxe issues of the same first edition, larger trim, with exclusive content. A separate UK SST Publications signed limited (2020, ~600 copies, labeled "First British edition") is a DIFFERENT publisher/issue and is NOT the true 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 statementCONFIRMED at the publisher level: Cemetery Dance marketed this explicitly as the "World's 1st Printing, 1st Edition!" / "One Time Printing, No Second Printings Ever!" AbeBooks aggregate metadata records the edition number as "1" with no separate "first printing" string. Cemetery Dance small-press books of this period typically carry a printed "First Edition" statement on the copyright page rather than a publisher's descending number line. STILL UNVERIFIED BY PHOTO: I could not view a photograph of the actual copyright page to quote the exact on-page string verbatim — treat the precise printed wording as photo-unconfirmed. Because there was only ONE printing, ANY copy of the CD hardcover (ISBN 9781587677311) IS a first printing regardless of the statement wording.

Number lineNo number line confirmed (consistent with the format). Cemetery Dance limited/trade hardcovers of this era generally do NOT use a Random-House-style descending number line; they rely on a printed "First Edition" statement and (for the deluxe states) a signed limitation page. Do not expect "10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1." Since the book had a single printing, the absence of a number line is not a defect. PHOTO-UNVERIFIED (no copyright-page image located), but corroborated by AbeBooks metadata showing only an edition designation, no number-line field.

Gutter / printer codeNot applicable — no book-club edition, so no SFBC/BOMC gutter date code. The CD hardcover carries no club gutter code.

First printing — copiesNot publicly disclosed

First jacket price$25.00 (US) — trade hardcover, dust-jacket front flap. The $25.00 publisher issue price is FIRMLY CONFIRMED (Cemetery Dance publisher page) and is consistent with secondary-market listings ($9.98–$22.70). UNVERIFIED only that the digits are physically printed on the flap vs. publisher list price alone — not photo-verified. (Upper front dust-jacket flap (standard location) — PHOTO-UNVERIFIED. Signed slipcased limited (750) issued at $75; lettered traycased (52) at $500 — these deluxe states ship in slipcase/traycase and are priced via the limitation page, not a jacket-flap retail price.)

Board (panel) colorUNVERIFIED — see binding notes; cloth boards with hot-foil stamping, exact color not confirmed in any located source or photo.

Spine / center bindingUNVERIFIED — same cloth as boards with hot-foil-stamped spine lettering (publisher confirms "hot foil stamping on front boards and spine"). Exact spine color not confirmed.

Binding styleTrade: cloth-bound hardcover with colored head and tail bands, hot-foil stamping on front boards and spine, full-color dust jacket, printed on 60# acid-free paper, ~330 pp (publisher/Wikipedia; 333 pp per some retailers). Signed slipcased limited (750): Smyth-sewn, bound in fine material, colored head/tail bands, hot-foil stamping, 60# acid-free archival paper, larger trim with different interior design, custom slipcase, different full-color dust jacket. Lettered (52): Smyth-sewn deluxe traycased binding, deluxe endpapers, all exclusive artwork/bonus items from the slipcased state. All three are one-time printings (publisher-confirmed).

Topstain / endpapersNo topstain reported on the trade. Endpapers: trade = standard; signed slipcased limited (750) = fine endpapers; lettered (52) = deluxe endpapers (publisher-confirmed for the lettered). Exact endpaper color/pattern UNVERIFIED.

Dust jacket

Full-color illustrated dust jacket with Ben Baldwin cover art (Castle Rock / Gwendy imagery). The signed slipcased limited uses a DIFFERENT full-color dust jacket from the trade (publisher-confirmed: "different full-color dust jacket") — a key point distinguishing the deluxe state. Fine visual detail of the trade jacket UNVERIFIED by photo.

Art / design: Cover/jacket art by Ben Baldwin; interior illustrations by Keith Minnion. RE-CONFIRMED via publisher page. Both signed the 52-copy lettered edition alongside Chizmar (publisher-confirmed: lettered signed by Chizmar, Baldwin, AND Minnion — NOT King).

https://i0.wp.com/www.cemeterydance.com/mm5/graphics/00000001/CHIZMAR26_353x540.jpg

https://www.cemeterydance.com/gwendys-magic-feather.html

https://www.cemeterydance.com/gwendys-magic-feather-signed.html

Book-club edition & fakes — how to spot a wrong copyNo Book Club Edition exists for this title. Cemetery Dance is a small press with a single one-time hardcover printing; there was no BOMC/SFBC club edition. Therefore the classic BCE tells (blind-stamp dot/maple-leaf on rear board, gutter/printer's date code near the gutter of a late text page, "Book Club Edition" on jacket flap, missing price, cheaper paper) do NOT apply — any "book club" copy would itself be suspect. The only genuine "downgrade" risks are the later trade paperback and the non-CD UK SST issue.

Also watch for: (1) Do NOT mistake the Gallery Books / Simon & Schuster mass-market PAPERBACK (2020, ISBN 9781982139728) for the first — it is a later non-CD edition. (2) Retailer metadata listing "Stephen King" as co-author is misleading — King only wrote the foreword; Chizmar is sole author (Amazon's listing for ISBN 9781587677328 shows "Richard Chizmar, Stephen King" as a cataloging artifact). (3) Confirm ISBN: 9781587677311 = trade first; 9781587677328 = signed slipcased limited; mismatched ISBN/description on a listing is a red flag. (4) Watch "signed" claims — only the 750 slipcased and 52 lettered CD copies (plus the separate ~600-copy UK SST limited) are publisher-signed/limited; a "signed" trade copy is an aftermarket signature, not a limitation. (5) A slipcased copy MUST include its limitation page and slipcase to command limited-edition value. (6) The UK SST issue (2020, "First British edition") and the later trade paperback should not be sold as the CD US first. (7) Library/ex-lib copies should not be sold as the first.

Print run & scarcity

Cemetery Dance explicitly marketed: "Limited ONE TIME Hardcover Printing! NO Second Printing!" / "One Time Printing, No Second Printings Ever!" — there is no second CD printing, so every CD hardcover is a first printing. The later Gallery/Simon & Schuster mass-market paperback (2020, ISBN 9781982139728) is a separate, non-first edition. A UK SST Publications signed limited followed in 2020 (~600 copies, labeled "First British edition" — distinct publisher). Minor cataloging variance on page count: 330 pp (publisher/Wikipedia) vs 333 pp (AbeBooks/Goodreads/Biblio).

First-state points & errata

(1) Cemetery Dance imprint on the title/copyright page (NOT Gallery Books / Simon & Schuster — that is the later 2020 paperback). (2) ISBN 978-1-58767-731-1 for the trade hardcover (9781587677328 = signed slipcased limited — RE-CONFIRMED via Amazon + Biblio). (3) $25.00 price on the front dust-jacket flap for the trade. (4) Foreword by Stephen King; interior illustrations by Keith Minnion; jacket art by Ben Baldwin. (5) Stated single one-time printing ("World's 1st Printing, 1st Edition"). (6) Full-color dust jacket present. Any copy matching these is the first/only printing.

Limited & signed editions

Two CD deluxe states, simultaneous with the trade first (both publisher-confirmed): (1) Signed & Slipcased Limited — 750 copies, signed by Richard Chizmar on a limitation page, larger trim, different interior design, Smyth-sewn, custom slipcase, different full-color dust jacket, and an EXCLUSIVE bonus piece from Stephen King not in any other edition; issue price $75; ISBN 9781587677328. (2) Signed & Traycased Lettered — 52 copies, signed by Chizmar, Ben Baldwin, AND Keith Minnion (NOT King), custom traycase, deluxe endpapers, all exclusive artwork/bonus from the slipcased state; issue price $500. SEPARATELY, a UK SST Publications signed limited edition (2020, ~600 copies, "First British edition") exists — distinct publisher, signed by Chizmar with contributors (afterword by Bev Vincent, Castle Rock map by Glenn Chadbourne); NOT the CD first.

Market value estimate

~$25–$60

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): $25–60 (genuine Cemetery Dance trade-hardcover first, fine/fine, unclipped/no price on jacket as issued); the SIGNED/slipcased limited of 750 is the real collectible at $120–250 fine

Book-club edition (the trap): No true book-club edition exists for this small-press title. The functional "trap/low-value substitute" is the UK Hodder & Stoughton edition (ISBN 1788580222/9781788580229) and ex-library/reading copies — these run ~$8–18 and are routinely mislisted as the collectible "first edition." — a fraction of a true first; never pay first-edition money for one.

Condition sensitivity is modest at the trade level because the book is abundant (one print run, but a full commercial trade run) — only true fine/fine moves the needle, and unsigned trade firsts top out near $40–60. The signed tiers carry the premium: a Chizmar-signed slipcased #/750 in fine roughly 4–6x a trade copy; the signed/lettered traycased (also signed by artists Baldwin & Minnion) is the genuine high-end. THE SINGLE BIGGEST THING that separates a real valuable copy from the mislisted ones for THIS title: it is NOT a Doubleday/King book and there is no gutter-code point to check — instead verify (1) Cemetery Dance imprint with ISBN 9781587677311 and the "World's 1st Printing / 1st Edition" statement (every CD trade copy is a first — no later printing exists), and (2) whether a signature/limitation page is actually present. The market's core confusion is plain unsigned $25 trade copies (and the cheaper UK Hodder edition) being listed at signed-limited prices. If there is no numbered limitation page and no slipcase, it is the ~$25–40 trade book, full stop — regardless of the "first edition" wording in the listing.

Value sources:

Sources

Verification notes: ADVERSARIAL RE-VERIFICATION (independent sources): Cemetery Dance publisher trade page CONFIRMS — hardcover, $25.00, ISBN 978-1-58767-731-1, Nov 19 2019, cloth/hot-foil/colored head-tail bands/60# acid-free paper, Ben Baldwin cover, Keith Minnion interior, Stephen King foreword, and the explicit "World's 1st Printing, 1st Edition! / One Time Printing, No Second Printings Ever!" framing. Publisher special-edition page CONFIRMS the two CD deluxe states (750 signed-slipcased @ $75 signed by Chizmar only with an exclusive King bonus; 52 lettered-traycased @ $500 signed by Chizmar + Baldwin + Minnion). INDEPENDENT cross-checks: AbeBooks (sole author Chizmar, King "FRW", edition "1", hardcover, $9.98–$22.70), Goodreads/Biblio/Amazon (format + dual ISBNs incl. 9781587677328 for the limited), afterword.co.uk review ("solo effort by Chizmar"), and search confirmation of the separate 2020 UK SST limited (~600 copies, "First British edition"). CORRECTIONS/UPGRADES vs draft: (a) first-edition statement UPGRADED from "UNVERIFIED" to publisher-CONFIRMED at the marketing/metadata level ("World's 1st Printing, 1st Edition"; copyright-page exact string still photo-unverified); (b) UK SST quantity added (~600 copies, "First British edition"); (c) lettered-edition signers re-affirmed as Chizmar/Baldwin/Minnion (a search summary conflating "King/Lonely Road" pertains to Gwendy's Button Box, NOT this book — rejected). STILL PHOTO-UNVERIFIED: exact copyright-page string, board/spine color, jacket-flap price printing, endpaper detail. Page count: 330 (publisher/Wikipedia) vs 333 (AbeBooks/Goodreads/Biblio) — minor cataloging variance.

confidence: High on edition identity, format (true first = Cemetery Dance HARDCOVER), authorship (Chizmar solo / King foreword only), publisher, ISBNs (9781587677311 trade / 9781587677328 limited), price ($25.00 cross-checked), the three CD states + signers, and the separate UK SST 2020 issue — all RE-CONFIRMED against independent sources. The publisher's "World's 1st Printing, 1st Edition" statement is now CONFIRMED at the marketing/metadata level (upgraded from the draft's UNVERIFIED). Medium-to-low remains ONLY on the exact on-page copyright-page string, board/spine colors, endpaper detail, and physical jacket-flap price printing — these stay PHOTO-UNVERIFIED for lack of a photographed copyright page / jacket.← Back to all titles