Simon & Schuster is a publisher based in New York City, founded in 1924. We track 857 editions it published between 1926 and 2025, 517 of them first editions across 817 books. How Simon & Schuster marked its first editions is set out below, with a checker for the year on your title page.
About Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster is an American trade publisher founded in New York City on 2 January 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster, and one of the "Big Five" English-language publishers.
The partners started with a book of crossword puzzles. In 1939 they backed Robert de Graff in founding Pocket Books, described as America's first paperback publisher. Marshall Field III bought the firm in 1944, and after his death in 1957 it was sold back for one million dollars. Gulf+Western acquired it in 1975, after which it passed through Paramount Communications, Viacom, CBS Corporation and Paramount Global. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts bought it for 1.62 billion dollars in a deal that closed in October 2023, and in March 2026 it named Greg Greeley as chief executive.
Simon & Schuster first published Joseph Heller's Catch-22 in 1961, edited by Robert Gottlieb and priced at 5.95 dollars in hardback. Its imprints and divisions include Scribner, Atria, Gallery, Pocket Books and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, and it is based in the Simon & Schuster Building in Manhattan.
Holding a copy? The first edition checker shows Simon & Schuster's practice for the year on your title page.
Identification
How to identify Simon & Schuster first editions
British practice
Simon & Schuster's British company, Simon & Schuster UK in London, identifies its books the British way: a first impression is shown by a complete number line on the copyright page.
A Simon & Schuster UK first impression has a number line that still includes the 1, often set as 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2.
The same applies to the children's list, Simon & Schuster Children's UK.
US first editions
Simon & Schuster has always marked its reprints rather than relying on a first edition statement, so a copy whose copyright page shows no later printing, or whose number line includes 1, is normally a first printing.
By period
From 1924 to the early 1950s Simon & Schuster put no first edition statement in its books: a first printing has a plain copyright page, while later printings are noted there, often with the printing number and date.
From about 1952 many first printings say "First Edition" or "First Printing", but not every title does. The safest test is the negative one: if nothing on the copyright page says the copy is a later printing, it is almost certainly the first.
From the early 1970s the firm used a number line on the copyright page, occasionally alongside a "First Printing" statement.
The lowest number in the line shows the printing, whatever order the numbers run in (for example "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2"); a line with a 1 indicates a first printing.
Traps
Book club copies. Book-of-the-Month Club copies are usually the same size and quality as the trade edition, so size is no guide. Their jackets usually carry no price on the front flap, so a priced jacket is one of the first things to check, and many have a small blind stamp (a dot, circle or square) low on the rear board; BOMC printed prices on some jackets in the 1970s, but those copies still carry the stamp. The copyright page may still read like a trade copy.
Example
Catch-22 (1961): the first printing states "First Printing" on the copyright page, is bound in blue cloth with the top edges stained red, and has a jacket priced $5.95 on the front flap with Joseph Heller's photograph on the back panel.
How do I identify a Simon & Schuster first edition?
Simon & Schuster's British company, Simon & Schuster UK in London, identifies its books the British way: a first impression is shown by a complete number line on the copyright page. - A Simon & Schuster UK first impression has a number line that still includes the 1, often set as 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2. - The same applies to the children's list, Simon & Schuster Children's UK.
How many Simon & Schuster books does MyVolumes track?
We track 857 editions published by Simon & Schuster, 517 of them first editions, across 817 books.
Books published by Simon & Schuster UK, London (Ryde Bookshop, Alexander's Books, booksonlinebrighton), AbeBooks, 2026 (abebooks.com)
Skandar and the Unicorn Thief, Simon & Schuster UK signed copies (MostlySignedBooks, Books for Collectors), AbeBooks search results, 2026 (abebooks.co.uk)
First-Edition: Identification by Publisher (Allen and Patricia Ahearn), ILAB, 2010 (ilab.org)
First Editions of Today and How to Tell Them (3rd edn), H. S. Boutell, Internet Archive, 1949 (archive.org)
How to Identify Simon & Schuster First Editions, ILAB (ilab.org)
Identifying First Editions, A Primer: The Publishers, Independent Online Booksellers Association (ioba.org)
How To Identify Book Club Editions (part 2), BookThink, 2008 (bookthink.com)
Book Club Edition Identification, TomFolio (tomfolio.com)
Heller, Joseph. Catch-22, first edition (lot description), Leland Little Auctions, 2020 (lelandlittle.com)
Catch-22 (Simon & Schuster, 1961) first printing listings, Magnum Opus Rare Books, Honey & Wax Booksellers and Type Punch Matrix, AbeBooks, 2026 (abebooks.co.uk)
Every fact on this page was checked against the sources listed. Checked 20 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.
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