I picked this up a while back, but it took me some time to track down a thorny bibliographic point.
Murphy, Pat. The Falling Woman. Tor, 1986. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine first state dust jacket, signed by Murphy. Winner for the Nebula Award for best novel. Supplements a copy of the first edition with a second state dust jacket inscribed to me by Murphy. You can tell the first state from the second state dust jacket by at least four different points:
- The lettering on the spine of the first state dust jacket has curvy features (the bottom of “Falling” is concave, and the top of “Woman” is convex), while the second state spine letters are straight.
- The lines in the center of the title on the front cover are black on the first state dust jacket, but red on the second state dust jacket.
- The back of the dust jacket is blank on the first state dust jacket, but has “Praise for The Falling Woman” followed by four blurbs on the second state dust jacket.
- The back of the second state dust jacket has an author photo of Murphy on the rear flap absent from the first state dust jacket.
I confirmed with Murphy with the “curved letter” spine version is indeed the first state dust jacket, and she says both first and second state dust jackets went out on first printings. Bought off eBay for $15.50.
Tags: Books, Fantasy, Pat Murphy