In January of 1957, two and a half years after the novel's debut, Gold Medal released a new edition of I Am Legend (now #643), boldly proclaiming, "SECOND BIG PRINTING!"
Somewhere along the line, I was able to acquire a near-pristine copy with a sticker on the inside front cover identifying the book as a Printer G. Hall file copy. Years later, through internet searches, I was able to find other books with identical labels. A very cool, unique representation of the book for the archive.
Aside from the "SECOND BIG PRINTING!" banner on the cover, the William Campbell Gault quote is reformatted (and prize-winning is now hyphenated). Additionally, the bold white line between the title block and Stanley Metlzoff artwork has been removed.
The spine of the second printing is changed from the red text on white from the first printing to black text on yellow. I did some research on the spine ornamentation (the black cross versus the red diamond), but there's no clear, identifiable logic to the use of those on Gold Medal paperbacks.
Check back next week for another selection from the I Am Legend Archive!
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