Special editions

A special edition is a separate version of a book made for a subscription box, a bookshop or a publisher's own deluxe run, usually with an exclusive cover, coloured or patterned page edges, foil or a signature. Each one is listed here as its own edition, with how to tell it apart.

Sprayed edges are page edges coloured after the book is bound, sometimes in a single colour and sometimes with a stencilled pattern. They are a common feature of subscription box and deluxe editions.

Not usually. Collectors treat the first printing of the first trade edition as the first edition; a special edition is collected for its own features. Some first printings did have sprayed edges, and those are marked on their edition pages.

Check the cover design, the edges, any foil and any signature or bookplate against the identification notes on each edition's page. A subscription box edition often names the box on the copyright page or jacket flap.