You are here: Home > Resources > Ask John! > Book Features > I've noticed that Clive Cussler's The Spy and John Sandford's Mortal Prey were printed without number lines on the copy write pages. Why?

Dear John: I've noticed that Clive Cussler's The Spy and John Sandford's Mortal Prey were printed without number lines on the copy write pages. Why? John replies: The first edition, first printing of these books were published without a number line. Later printings carry a number line, omitting the "1". Putnam does this occasionally without warning or explanation. July 11 - we have an update from the publisher about The Spy: "Unfortunately, it was a typo that the line was dropped and it has been submitted as a reprint correction, so the line will appear in future printings. This doesn't, of course, help the collectors, but it was a mistake. He can tell people that if there is no line, then it is definitely a first edition." - John Ask John at: [email protected] Read articles about book collecting Read John's answers to book collecting questions Receive our Book Collecting PDFs and newsletters Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook Watch our Videos