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: customerservice@vjbooks.com 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