Books

First edition, first printing, signed by the ghostwriter Alan Dean Foster on the title page, though solely credited to George Lucas. This novelization of Star Wars: A New Hope was published five months prior to the release of the film in May 1977 and represents the public's first encounter with a long-form story from the franchise. The book proved immensely popular and sold millions of copies before the theatrical premiere. Ralph McQuarrie, who illustrated the cover art, was a key visual concept designer for the films. His initial sketches were crucial in convincing 20th Century Fox to develop Lucas's new project. The book version is "perhaps most notable for allowing its readers to experience the interiority of characters from the film... Although the film establishes Leia's willingness to shoot the stormtroopers, the novelization allows its readers to imagine the consequences of her act more vividly by narrating the stormtrooper's thoughts and aspirations" (Webster, p. 51). The prologue opens with "Another galaxy, another time" in lieu of the more familiar "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." Octavo. Original pictorial wrappers designed by Ralph McQuarrie, edges yellow. Extremities faintly rubbed, else clean and bright: a near-fine copy. Jeremy W. Webster, "Leia Shot First: Transmedia Storytelling and the National Public Radio Dramatization of Star Wars", Star Wars and the History of Transmedia Storytelling, 2018.

This is a novelization of the 1977 film Star Wars, authored by Alan Dean Foster under the name George Lucas. It was initially published by Del Rey Books in 1976 before the film's release.