Sphere began in 1966 as a mass-market paperback house, so most Sphere books are first paperback editions rather than true firsts. The name now belongs to a Little, Brown imprint that issued The Cuckoo's Calling in 2013.
Sphere is a British imprint of Little, Brown Book Group, part of Hachette UK, and carries the name of Sphere Books, the London paperback publisher the Thomson Corporation launched in 1966.
The original Sphere was a mass-market paperback house. Its lists included UK editions of Robert E. Howard's Conan stories, the Dennis Wheatley Library of the Occult and, in the 1970s, a run of Sphere Science Fiction Classics. In 1976 it paid $225,000 to Ballantine Books for the British rights to the Star Wars novelisation, whose first printing sold out. Pearson bought Sphere in 1985 and placed it within Penguin. Macdonald & Co. acquired it in 1989, moving the science fiction and fantasy list to Orbit and general titles to Futura, and the Sphere name was retired in 1990.
The name is now used by an imprint of Little, Brown, which belonged to Time Warner Book Group until Hachette bought the group in 2006. Today's Sphere publishes commercial fiction and popular non-fiction by authors including Patricia Cornwell, Mark Billingham, Jenny Colgan, Mitch Albom, Nicholas Sparks and Nicholas Evans.
Sphere first published The Cuckoo's Calling on 4 April 2013 under the pen name Robert Galbraith. In July 2013 The Sunday Times revealed that the crime novel was by J. K. Rowling.
Holding a copy? The first edition checker shows Sphere's practice for the year on your title page.
Identification
How to identify Sphere first editions
What to look for
1960s to 1980s
Sphere Books was a paperback house. Most of its books are paperback editions of titles first issued elsewhere, so a Sphere copy is usually a "first thus" (first paperback edition), not a true first.
When a title came out in paperback before any hardback, the paperback is the true first. The first three volumes of Clive Barker's Books of Blood appeared from Sphere in 1984, with hardbacks following in 1985.
UNVERIFIED: copyright pages of Sphere reprints name the original hardback publisher and date first, with a later Sphere edition line, while Sphere originals read "First published in Great Britain by Sphere Books" with the year.
1990s
The original Sphere name was dropped in 1990 after Macdonald bought the firm.
UNVERIFIED: Sphere-branded paperbacks dated after 1990 are reissues under the Little, Brown group and are rarely firsts.
From 2000
The modern Sphere publishes hardback originals as well as paperbacks. The Cuckoo's Calling (April 2013) is the best-known example; the July 2013 reprint, issued after the author's identity came out, is not a first.
UNVERIFIED: a first edition reads "First published in Great Britain in [year] by Sphere" with no reprint statement.
UNVERIFIED: the price is printed on the front flap of the jacket.
On a number line the lowest number present gives the printing, so a first printing keeps the 1.
UNVERIFIED: Sphere sets its number line out as 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2.
1960s to 1980s - Sphere Books was a paperback house. Most of its books are paperback editions of titles first issued elsewhere, so a Sphere copy is usually a "first thus" (first paperback edition), not a true first. - When a title came out in paperback before any hardback, the paperback is the true first. The first three volumes of Clive Barker's Books of Blood appeared from Sphere in 1984, with h
How many Sphere books does MyVolumes track?
We track 171 editions published by Sphere, 26 of them first editions, across 171 books.
