- Since 1937 Viking has marked first printings with a "First published ... by Viking" statement giving the year, for example "First published in 1979 by The Viking Press" and, after the Penguin purchase, "First published in 1986 by Viking Penguin, Inc."
Publisher
Viking Adult
Viking Adult is the adult list of Viking, the New York publisher founded in 1925 by Harold Guinzburg and George Oppenheimer and owned by Penguin since 1975.
- Editions tracked
- 13
- First editions
- 8
- Books
- 13
- Years
- 1973 to 2014
Viking Adult is a publisher active from 1973. We track 13 editions it published between 1973 and 2014, 8 of them first editions across 13 books. How Viking Adult marked its first editions is set out below, with a checker for the year on your title page.
About Viking Adult
Viking Adult is the imprint name for the adult list of Viking, the New York publisher founded in 1925 and now part of Penguin Random House.
Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheimer set up Viking Press in New York City on 1 March 1925. A children's department, Junior Books, opened in 1933 with The Story About Ping as its first title and was later renamed Viking Children's Books; Viking Adult and Viking Children's Books are now listed as separate imprints. Viking's authors have included James Joyce, John Steinbeck, Arthur Miller, Roald Dahl and Stephen King, whose novels from The Dead Zone (1979) through IT (1986), Misery (1987) and Desperation (1996) had their first trade editions from Viking.
After a period of financial trouble, Viking was bought by Penguin Books in 1975 for a reported $12 million. Stephen King copyright pages still read "The Viking Press" up to 1983, and from 1984 they read "Viking Penguin, Inc." Viking is now owned by Penguin Random House.
Holding a copy? The first edition checker shows Viking Adult's practice for the year on your title page.
Identification
How to identify Viking Adult first editions
Authors
Books
Published by Viking Adult
Frequently asked questions
How do I identify a Viking Adult first edition?
- Since 1937 Viking has marked first printings with a "First published ... by Viking" statement giving the year, for example "First published in 1979 by The Viking Press" and, after the Penguin purchase, "First published in 1986 by Viking Penguin, Inc."
How many Viking Adult books does MyVolumes track?
We track 13 editions published by Viking Adult, 8 of them first editions, across 13 books.
Where these facts come from
- Viking Press, Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
- First Edition Identification by Publisher, ILAB, 2010 (ilab.org)
- Identifying First Editions (Stephen King trade editions), StephenKing.com, 2024 (StephenKing.com)
Every fact on this page was checked against the sources listed. Checked 22 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.