Terry Pratchett First Editions: How to Identify Discworld Firsts

The Terry Pratchett first editions collectors chase are the early Colin Smythe hardbacks: The Carpet People (1971), The Colour of Magic (1983) and The Light Fantastic (1986), all printed in small numbers. From Equal Rites in 1987, Victor Gollancz published the Discworld novels, and print runs climbed fast as Pratchett's readership grew. Colin Smythe, his first publisher and later his agent, records each first printing on his own website, which is the best source for counts and points.

The Colin Smythe books

The Carpet People (1971)

Pratchett's first book was published by Colin Smythe on 16 November 1971 in about 3,000 copies, with his own illustrations. The binding is green cloth lettered in gilt, and the jacket, priced £1.90, came with a clear Duraseal protector.

The key point is a tipped-in leaf. The printer printed the illustration on page 34 upside down, so the leaf was cut out and a corrected one (pages 33 and 34) was tipped into every copy. Fewer than ten copies were hand-coloured by Pratchett. The revised 1992 text, published by Doubleday, is a different book.

The Colour of Magic (1983)

The first Discworld novel is the great Pratchett rarity. Colin Smythe published it on 24 November 1983 in about 506 copies, with a jacket by Alan Smith, and around 400 of them went to libraries. A clean copy that was never in a library is therefore very scarce.

The copies were printed in America by St Martin's Press, whose blurb on the front flap was inaccurate. Publication was delayed so that labels could be printed to cover it. Most firsts therefore have a pasted label over the flap blurb; the earliest state, without the label, is described by Jonkers as very rare.

Know the look-alikes:

• St Martin's Press, New York (1983): the first American edition, about 4,000 copies, with the same Alan Smith art.
• Book Club copies: after the first edition sold out, Smythe imported 400 Science Fiction Book Club copies in 1988 and sold them in Britain with a price sticker. Some even carry the blurb label. Club printings carry a small code in the gutter near the end of the book, such as O15 on page 182 of the first club printing.
• Smythe's second printing (1989): 1,033 copies, with a Josh Kirby jacket and a new introduction.
• The 2005 facsimile: at least 1,000 copies, about 6mm taller than the original.

Bonhams sold a first with the label, restored, for £3,584 in 2023. John Atkinson asks £22,500 for a fine copy in the earliest jacket.

The Light Fantastic (1986)

Colin Smythe published 1,034 copies on 2 June 1986, with a Josh Kirby jacket. On the first-state jacket the front flap quotes reviews of The Colour of Magic only; later printings add reviews of The Light Fantastic. The first jacket has no printed price. A Book Club look-alike carries the Smythe imprint but has 189 pages against the first edition's 218, no date on the title page and "Printed in the United States of America".

The Gollancz years

Year	Title	Publisher	First printing
1987	Equal Rites	Gollancz with Colin Smythe	2,850
1987	Mort	Gollancz with Colin Smythe	3,950
1988	Sourcery	Gollancz with Colin Smythe	7,200
1988	Wyrd Sisters	Gollancz	6,700
1989	Guards! Guards!	Gollancz	14,200
1992	Small Gods	Gollancz	27,700
1996	Hogfather	Gollancz	70,000
1997	Jingo	Gollancz	120,000

Counts are Colin Smythe's first-printing figures. Josh Kirby painted the jackets of Equal Rites and Mort, and Equal Rites was priced £9.95.

Two cautions apply to this period:

• The joint imprint is not proof. The first four printings of Mort all say "Victor Gollancz in association with Colin Smythe", so check for later printings on the copyright page.
• Reprints before publication. Under Cassell's ownership, from 1992, Gollancz sometimes printed too few copies, and some titles were reprinted before publication day. Hogfather sold out before its reprint arrived. An early reprint can look very like a first, so read the copyright page carefully.

From The Last Continent (1998), Doubleday published the hardbacks.

Book club copies and signatures

Book Club Associates editions caught many buyers out. At first BCA sold Gollancz trade copies with the price clipped from the jacket, so a price-clipped jacket needs a second look. Later BCA copies were printed without the Gollancz imprint, and later still in a smaller format with no ISBN. See our guide to book club editions and the book club edition checker.

First and Fine notes that Pratchett signed early books in full, and in later years used a quick mark to keep signing queues moving, so an early, full signature is the more desirable. See signed and inscribed books.

Check your copy

1. Find the publisher on the title page: Colin Smythe, Gollancz (with or without Smythe), or a later publisher.
2. Read the copyright page for the first printing and any later printings.
3. For The Colour of Magic, check the jacket for the blurb label, the height of the book and any club code in the gutter.
4. For The Light Fantastic, read the reviews on the front flap.
5. Check whether the jacket price has been clipped.
6. Grade the book and jacket with our condition guide, then try Is my book valuable?.