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The Dark Half Common

Stephen King (the book's plot turns on his retired Richard Bachman pseudonym; title page reads "Stephen King" only — NOT a Bachman byline). No co-author/byline credit.
1989 · Viking (Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Books USA Inc.), New York
First-edition cover of The Dark Half
First-edition jacket (first edition (verified vs jacket)) · source

What it’s about

Thad Beaumont is a respected but middling literary novelist who has secretly made his fortune writing violent crime thrillers under the pen name "George Stark." When a blackmailer threatens to expose him, Thad publicly "kills off" his alter ego with a mock burial and a tongue-in-cheek magazine spread — only to have people connected to the exposé start turning up brutally murdered, with evidence pointing impossibly back to a man who never existed. As a sheriff's investigation closes in on Thad himself, he's forced to confront the possibility that his pseudonym was never just a name.

Significance King wrote it as a sly confession after his own Richard Bachman pen name was unmasked in 1985 (the book is dedicated "to the late Richard Bachman"); a Castle Rock novel, it was adapted into George A. Romero's 1993 film starring Timothy Hutton.

Is this the true first?Yes. The Viking trade hardcover (published October 20, 1989) is the true U.S. first edition. No small-press limited precedes it, and it is not a paperback original. No signed/numbered slipcased small-press limited was issued for this title at publication (confirmed via thedarktower.org Palaver proofs/limited listing — only proof states exist).
The Viking U.S. trade hardcover is the true first edition. King is American and the U.S. printing is the first. The UK first (Hodder & Stoughton, 1989, ISBN 0340509112/0340509120) is a separate British printing with a different jacket and is NOT the true first; collect the Viking. No Donald M. Grant / Philtrum / Land of Enchantment style small-press edition precedes this title — the only pre-publication states are uncorrected proofs (US Viking proof = white wrappers with a bird design; UK Hodder presentation proof carries the trade cover art).

First-printing points at a glance

First-printing statementCopyright page reads "First published in 1989 by Viking Penguin, A division of Penguin Books USA Inc." (note the capitalized "A" in the authoritative King-collector transcription). There is NO explicit "First Edition" phrase — for this Viking title the first printing is identified by the COMPLETE number line ending in the digit "2" (see numberLine). The "First published in 1989..." line alone is NOT decisive because it can persist on later printings; the number line is the controlling point.
Number line"1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2" — the staggered Viking line (low odds ascending, then high evens descending; lowest digit is "1"). A TRUE FIRST shows the full line present with "1" leading. Later printings drop the low numbers (e.g. the line begins at "2"/"3" or higher, no "1"). Confirmed verbatim on BOTH stephenkingcollector.com (rendered "1 3 5 7 9 1 0 8 6 4 2" where "1 0" is the two digits of "10") and the thedarktower.org Palaver Trade-HC reference ("1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2"). Search-engine summaries that say "1-10" or "full line starting with 1" are imprecise paraphrases of this same staggered row.
Gutter / printer codeN/A — Viking title; no Doubleday/printer gutter-code system applies. Identification is by number line, jacket price, and binding/endpaper points, not a gutter code.
First printing — copies1,500,000 copies (first trade printing, Viking, October 1989). accepted figure
First jacket price$21.95 (Upper-right corner of the FRONT inner jacket flap (Canadian price typically printed just below). Absent entirely on book-club jackets.)
Board (panel) colorBlack paper-covered boards, with a gilt "SK" monogram blocked on the front board (multiple dealer descriptions cite the gilt SK initials plus a gilt rule/border at the top of the front cover).
Spine / center bindingBlack cloth spine (quarter-bound: black cloth spine over black paper boards) with bright gilt-stamped title/author lettering on the spine.
Binding styleSewn quarter-bound hardcover: black cloth spine over black paper-covered boards ("quarter bound in black cloth with black boards and purple pastedowns" — Palaver Trade HC). Large octavo, 431 pp., sewn signatures (genuine trade binding), not glued. First-printing run ~1,500,000 copies.
Topstain / endpapersEndpapers / pastedowns are PURPLE (variously described "purple," "deep purple," "royal purple") — a notable, frequently-cited identification point, corroborated by the Palaver Trade-HC reference ("purple pastedowns") and multiple dealers. No publisher's top-edge stain is documented — treat the top edge as plain/unstained (blue/discoloration on the top edge in some listings is moisture/condition damage, NOT a factory topstain). Interior carries a few line illustrations by Lars Hokanson.

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.

1 listing flagged wrong-edition / later printing and hidden.

Dust jacket

U.S. Viking jacket is photographic (not painted): a dark, moody front-panel photograph tied to the novel's sparrow/psychopomp and grave imagery, with title and "STEPHEN KING" in display type. Spine and rear continue the dark palette; rear panel/flap carries author material and author photo. Distinct from the UK illustrated jacket.

Art / design: Front jacket photograph by Geoffrey Gove; jacket design by Neil Stuart. Interior illustrations by Lars Hokanson (inside the book, not on the jacket). The UK Hodder & Stoughton jacket is a different design — do not conflate the two.

reference photohttps://www.stephenkingcollector.com/1st/darkhalf.htmlreference photohttps://www.ebay.com/itm/355885212251reference photohttps://charnelhouse.tripod.com/darkhalf.html
Book-club edition & fakes — how to spot a wrong copyBook-of-the-Month-Club / BOMC edition tells for THIS title (a BOMC printing demonstrably exists — see rarebookcellar listing #314162): (1) a small BLIND-STAMP (indented dot/circle/square, no ink) on the lower-right corner of the REAR board — the single most reliable tell; (2) "Book Club Edition" printed on the lower front jacket flap; (3) NO price on the front flap (a true first shows $21.95); (4) thinner/cheaper paper and lighter overall weight; (5) frequently a slightly smaller trim than the Viking trade; (6) cheaper glued binding on some club copies. The number line is NOT a Doubleday-style gutter code here (this is Viking) — rely on the blind-stamp + flap markings + missing price. CAUTION: the rear-board blind-stamp POSITION is general King/BOMC practice, not confirmed against a title-specific BOMC photo — confidence medium on exact position, high on its existence.

Also watch for: (1) MARRIED JACKETS — a later-printing or club book slipped into a first-state $21.95 jacket (or vice versa); always confirm the inside number line matches a price-present, non-club jacket. (2) PRICE-CLIPPED jackets passed as firsts — clipping removes the $21.95 evidence; be wary of sellers hiding the front flap. (3) BOOK-CLUB copies mis-sold as firsts — check rear-board blind-stamp + flap "Book Club Edition" + missing price (with a ~1.5 million first printing, genuine firsts are common and cheap — no reason to overpay for a disguised club copy). (4) Ex-LIBRARY copies (stamps, pockets, spine labels) — heavily devalued. (5) REMAINDER MARKS (sprayed/marker dot or line on the bottom text-block edge) — reduce value. (6) Facsimile/reproduction jackets — original photographic jacket should show period printing/paper. (7) Don't confuse the UK Hodder first (different jacket/ISBN) for the U.S. true first.

Print run & scarcity

The 1.5 million first-printing figure is documented by the Stephen King collector reference (stephenkingcollector.com) and corroborated by publication-history sources noting a Viking release of October 1989 (commonly cited as Oct 20, 1989), issued days after the UK Hodder & Stoughton edition. This is one of King's largest first printings of the era and is the structural reason unsigned firsts carry almost no scarcity premium — the value is signature-driven, not rarity-driven.

First-state points & errata

No textual first-state errata point is documented for this title in the standard King-collector references (thedarktower.org Palaver, stephenkingcollector.com). Unlike some King titles, the first/first is identified purely by the number line (ends in "2", lowest digit "1") + the $21.95 front-flap price + black quarter-cloth binding with gilt SK monogram + purple pastedowns/endpapers — not by a known typo or corrected error. Treat any claimed "first-state typo" as UNVERIFIED.

Limited & signed editions

No U.S. signed/numbered slipcased or traycased small-press limited was issued for The Dark Half (unlike, e.g., several Dark Tower titles). Signed copies that exist are signed FIRST-edition trade copies (in-person/event signatures) — still the trade binding, no lettered/numbered limited. Pre-publication states: a US Viking uncorrected proof (white wrappers with a bird design) and a UK Hodder & Stoughton presentation proof (trade cover art) circulate among collectors (thedarktower.org Palaver). UK: Hodder & Stoughton 1989 trade hardcover = the British first (separate jacket).

Market value confirmed sales

$25–75 (genuine unsigned first, fine/fine, unclipped $21.95 jacket). SIGNED/inscribed fine/fine: ~$250–600.

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

Confirmed sales: Bauman Rare Books — near-fine INSCRIBED copy ("To T—... Stephen King 3/21/92"), listed SOLD (dealer price withheld, typically $400–650 band). First and Fine — fine/fine SIGNED & inscribed ("For Fred – all the best, Stephen King"), marked SOLD/Out of stock. stephenkingcollector.com reference (Dec 2024): standard UNSIGNED first market value stated at $10–20. Raptis Rare Books — fine/fine signed copy offered (asking, dealer-retail tier, not a sold comp).

Book-club edition (the trap): No true Viking BCE for this title in the usual sense, but BOMC/club and later-printing hardcovers trade at $5–15; ex-library and reading copies $3–10. An unsigned later-printing or club copy is essentially the trap that gets mislisted as a "first." — a fraction of a true first; never pay first-edition money for one.

This title is a value FLOOR among King firsts BECAUSE of the staggering 1,500,000-copy first printing — supply crushes the unsigned price; a fine/fine unsigned first is a $25–75 book, not a four-figure one. The ENTIRE premium is a SIGNATURE: a signed fine/fine first jumps to ~$250–600, inscribed/dated higher. Condition is brutal on price: the black boards show rubbing and the white/illustrated jacket chips and sunfades easily, so true FINE jackets are scarcer than the book; a price-clipped jacket (the $21.95 must be present, lower right front flap) cuts value 30–50%. THE single biggest first-printing discriminator for THIS title: it is a VIKING book, so identification is the number line "1 3 5 7 9 1 0 8 6 4 2" on the copyright page (a complete line ending in '2'/beginning with '1') — there is NO Doubleday gutter code (that points system belongs to King's earlier Doubleday titles and is a red-herring/trap here). Verify Viking Penguin 1989 imprint, ISBN 0-670-82982-X, purple endpapers, $21.95 unclipped jacket, and NO book-club blind-stamp on the rear board.

Value sources:

Sources

Verification notes: VERIFY PASS — independent sources NOT in the original draft were added: (a) thedarktower.org Palaver "Dark Half - Trade HC" reference and (b) Palaver "Manuscripts Proofs and ARCs: Dark Half" page, plus (c) Wikipedia. Findings: (1) Number line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2" CONFIRMED on two independent collector references — draft CORRECT. (2) Copyright statement CONFIRMED; Palaver capitalizes "A division" ("...Viking Penguin, A division of Penguin Books USA Inc.") — minor casing refinement vs draft's lowercase "a". (3) $21.95 front-flap price CONFIRMED. (4) Binding CONFIRMED as "quarter bound in black cloth with black boards and purple pastedowns" (Palaver) + gilt SK monogram on front board (multiple dealers) — draft CORRECT. (5) Endpapers/pastedowns PURPLE CONFIRMED (Palaver + dealers). (6) Print run ~1,500,000 and 431 pp CONFIRMED. (7) Jacket credits (Stuart design / Gove photo / Hokanson interiors) CONFIRMED. (8) No signed/numbered small-press limited — CONFIRMED; only US proof (white wrappers, bird design) and UK presentation proof exist. DISCREPANCY recorded: publication date — Wikipedia and stephenking.com give October 20, 1989; the Palaver King-collector reference says "believed November 1st"; biblio lists "1989-11-01" (a cataloging artifact). Majority/authoritative-author sources favor Oct 20, 1989 — draft's "Oct. 1989" retained as primary, November noted as a collector-side ambiguity. Value: stephenkingcollector lists ~$10-20 (Dec 2024); draft's $10-30 widened slightly to $10-40 fine/fine to reflect dealer asks while keeping the low-value thesis. No first-state textual errata documented — draft's "absent errata" stance CONFIRMED.

confidence: High on number line ("1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2" — independently confirmed on stephenkingcollector.com AND thedarktower.org Palaver Trade-HC), copyright statement, $21.95 price, black quarter-cloth binding with gilt SK monogram, purple endpapers/pastedowns, 431 pp / ~1.5M print run, and jacket credits (Gove photo / Stuart design / Hokanson interiors — all cross-confirmed). Medium on exact BOMC blind-stamp POSITION (rear lower-right is standard King/BOMC practice, not verified against a title-specific photo; BOMC edition's EXISTENCE is confirmed via rarebookcellar #314162). Low/UNVERIFIED on any colored top stain (none documented; treat as plain).← Back to all titles