Needful Things, cover of another edition (the Hodder & Stoughton 1991 cover is not yet photographed)

Cover of another edition of this book. The Hodder & Stoughton 1991 jacket has not been photographed yet.

Hardback

Needful Things (1991)

Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 20 Oct 2026.

Market value

What decides the price

  • It is the first UK edition; the true first was published elsewhere.
  • The original dust jacket carries much of the price for a book of this age; its condition matters as much as the book's.
  • Condition is graded separately for book and jacket, from Fine down to Poor.

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Sales record

No sales recorded yet

We value a printing from verified sales of that exact printing, and none of the first impression has come to auction in our records so far. The chart and the value by condition appear here as soon as one does.

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In short

Quick answer

Who published the Needful Things 1991 hardback?
Hodder & Stoughton, in 1991, in hardback.
Identification

How to identify this edition

Viking published Needful Things in New York in October 1991, and Hodder & Stoughton issued the first British edition in London the same year: a hardback of 698 pages, ISBN 0340546735. Check for that ISBN and a copyright page with no later impression stated. The 2007 Hodder paperback (ISBN 0340952768) and other later issues are not firsts.

Publisher's practice

How Hodder & Stoughton marked its first editions

Early Hodder & Stoughton books have no consistent first-edition marking, so they are identified title by title from the points recorded for each book rather than by a house rule.

Allen and Patricia Ahearn's publisher list for ILAB says that before the 1940s the firm had no consistent practice for marking first editions or later printings. Ash Rare Books, writing about H. S. Boutell's 1928 guide, records that Hodder told Boutell its methods varied with every book.

Read the full guide to Hodder & Stoughton first editions, decade by decade, and check your copy's copyright page against it. Our number line decoder reads the printing from the row of numbers.

Printing by printing

Printings and states

First impression

1991

At a glance

Not yet researched

We have not yet confirmed the issue points that tell this first impression from later ones. Until we do, compare your copy's title page and copyright page with the publisher, place and year above: any later printing or edition statement means it is not this one.

Know the points? Tell us. We publish them, with credit, once a second source agrees.

Notes

The cover image shows this book but may not be this edition or printing.

Questions collectors ask

Frequently asked questions

Who published the Needful Things 1991 hardback?

Hodder & Stoughton, in 1991, in hardback.

Sources

Where these facts come from

  • Needful Things, Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
  • British National Bibliography record 010694068, GB9162969
  • record 014015771 'London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1991', British Library (BNB Linked Open Data dump), 2018 (doi.org)
  • Stephen King, Needful Things, First UK Edition 1991, John Atkinson Books (johnatkinsonbooks.co.uk)
  • Needful Things U.K. 1st Edition fine art print, Steve Crisp, Suntup Editions, 2021 (shop.suntup.press)

Points of issue are listed only where at least two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 20 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.