25 Editions of The Bad Beginning in 25 Years

1.  Advance Reading Edition (HarperCollins, 1999) 

Advance reading copies are pre-production, unfinished, review copies of books sent to book reviewers, booksellers, librarians, etc. Since The Bad Beginning and The Reptile Room were published simultaneously, their ARC was combined. The two books were bound dos-a-dos in one volume. The first version of the ARC had "Unfortunate" misspelled as "Unfortuante" on the cover; this was fixed for the second version. The ARC included draft versions of Brett Helquist's illustrations, since the artwork was not yet complete. It was distributed in 1999 by HarperCollins to promote the new series.

2.  Hardcover First Edition (HarperCollins, 1999) 

The hardcover first edition has never been out of print since its original publication in 1999. This edition reached its 99th printing in 2024 (based on a recent numberline I've observed), and it is possibly into its 100th or 101st printing by now. Depicted in the first two photographs is a first printing of the first edition; the circular "LS" stamp (shown in the third photo) did not get added to the rear cover until 2002.

4.  Scholastic Paperback (Scholastic, 2000) 

Scholastic is an American publishing company that produces cheap paperback editions of children's books for sale at school book fairs. Each book in the series was also published as a Scholastic paperback, starting with The Bad Beginning released in 2000. The Scholastic paperbacks were often sold in multi-packs of several books shrink-wrapped together.

5.  UK Hardcover (Egmont, 2001) 

In 2001, The Bad Beginning was published in the United Kingdom by Mammoth, an imprint of Egmont. Egmont would continue to publish the remaining books in the series, often trailing the American publications by a year or two. By 2005, the series had become popular enough that The Penultimate Peril and The End were published simultaneously in the United States and the United Kingdom. 

The Egmont hardcover editions were notable for their use of alternative cover artwork by Brett Helquist. With the exception of books #12 and #13, each Egmont book in the series had a different Helquist cover illustration and details than the American hardcover editions.

6.  W.H. Smith Omnibus (Egmont, 2001) 

Egmont also published the first three books of the series together in an omnibus volume, which was sold as an exclusive at W.H. Smith (a retail chain in the United Kingdom).

8.  Collector's Edition (Egmont, 2003) 

As the UK alternative to the Rare Edition, Egmont published in 2003 both a "Collector's Edition" and a "Limited Edition". Neither included the Author's Notes or the Marvelous Marriage illustration. 

The Collector's Edition was bound with a cut-out window in the front cover that showed the Egmont cover illustration printed on the front free endpaper. Both the physical size of the book and the text size on the pages were increased. Five new full-color plates were illustrated by Brett Helquist for the Collector's and Limited Editions. One plate was later reused for The Puzzling Puzzles cover illustration.

9.  Limited Edition (Egmont, 2003) 

As the UK alternative to the Rare Edition, Egmont published in 2003 both a "Collector's Edition" and a "Limited Edition". Neither included the Author's Notes or the Marvelous Marriage illustration. 

The Limited Edition was bound in leather-like material and included a slipcase. It was signed by Daniel Handler on a bookplate sticker. Both the physical size of the book and the text size on the pages were increased. Five new full-color plates were illustrated by Brett Helquist for the Collector's and Limited Editions. One plate was later reused for The Puzzling Puzzles cover illustration.

10.  Movie Tie-In (HarperCollins, 2004) 

As part of the merchandise for the 2004 Paramount movie, HarperCollins published tie-in dust jackets for The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, and The Wide Window. Each dust jacket was wrapped around a regular HarperCollins hardcover copy of the book. The dust jackets replaced the "Dear Reader" letters with "Dear Fan of Count Olaf" letters and included an author biography of Count Olaf instead of Mr. Snicket. The front side of each dust jacket contained a photo still from the movie, while the rear side contained a maze activity.

11.  Movie Omnibus (Egmont, 2004) 

Egmont published the first three books of the series together in a movie tie-in omnibus volume. The cover depicted a photo still of the Baudelaires arriving at Count Olaf's house.

12.  Ominous Omnibus (HarperCollins, 2005) 

In 2005, HarperCollins published its own omnibus edition, titled "The Ominous Omnibus". It compiled the first three books of the series together in one volume. The cover boards depicted Count Olaf in silhouette (artwork which was later reused for The Notorious Notations). The dust jacket was reversible: its exterior contained a movie promotional image, and its interior contained a poster summarizing the series, with a checklist to indicate for each book whether you "read it and wept" or "dropped it and ran". The rear of the dust jacket exterior contained a letter addressed "Dear Fan of Count Olaf".

13.  Penny Dreadful Paperback (HarperCollins, 2007) 

Starting in 2007, HarperCollins began releasing the series in new paperback editions. The lineup was stopped after The Wide Window due to poor sales, since both the original hardcover editions and the Scholastic paperback editions were also still in print. 

The paperback edition was designed to mimic Victorian "penny dreadful" novels. This edition included new cover artwork and interior illustrations by Brett Helquist. Located at the end of the book was a new appendix titled "The Cornucopian Cavalcade", which contained a humorous Lemony Snicket advice column, obscure vintage advertisements, a serialized graphic novel titled "The S'Poily Brats" by Michael Kupperman, and mildly amusing activities such as paper-folding.

14.  First Egmont Paperback (Egmont, 2010) 

Unlike the HarperCollins hardcovers, the Egmont hardcovers have gone out-of-print. In 2010, and then again in 2012, Egmont reissued the full series in paperback format. 

The 2010 paperback edition had a redesigned gothic-style cover, with thorny vines curling around the covers and spine. A version of this edition exclusive to W.H. Smith included tear-out trading cards that could be assembled to form the Marvelous Marriage illustration from the 2003 HarperCollins Rare Edition.

15.  Short-Lived Edition (HarperCollins, 2012) 

In 2012, the first book of the prequel series All the Wrong Questions was published by Little Brown and caused a resurgence of interest in Lemony Snicket. To capitalize on this interest, HarperCollins released a limited-edition version of The Bad Beginning at a steeply discounted price, titled the "Short-Lived Edition". This edition included a new "Dear Reader" letter on the rear cover. 

The book you are holding in your hands is a short-lived edition of a book that will likely make your life shorter as well. The tale of three Baudelaire children, who find themselves thrown into an unhappy situation containing a treacherous villain with an evil scheme and bad manners, becomes more and more dreadful on each page, and anyone so foolhardy as to read it will find themselves weeping and moaning by the end of the book. 

This book is offered at an introductory price, but it introduces the reader to such unpleasantries as a disastrous fire, itchy clothing, a baby trapped in a cage, a plot to steal an enormous fortune, and dusty curtains. 

I made a solemn promise to write down these wretched tales, but you have made no such promise, and if I were you I would put down a book this terrible, no matter how reasonably priced.

16.  Second Egmont Paperback (Egmont, 2012) 

Unlike the HarperCollins hardcovers, the Egmont hardcovers have gone out-of-print. In 2010, and then again in 2012, Egmont reissued the full series in paperback format. 

The 2012 paperback edition returned to the original design of the Egmont hardcover editions, abandoning the 2010 gothic redesign experiment. This paperback line is still in print, although it is now published under the Farshore brand.

17.  Egmont Modern Classics (Egmont, 2016) 

The Author's Notes from the 2003 HarperCollins Rare Edition were finally published in the United Kingdom in 2016, when Egmont released The Bad Beginning as part of its Children's Modern Classics lineup. This edition also included a brief interview with Mr. Snicket.

18.  First Black Friday Signed Edition (HarperCollins, 2016) 

In 2016 and 2017, HarperCollins published signed editions of The Bad Beginning as a Barnes & Noble exclusive, released on Black Friday. The editions were signed by Daniel Handler on a special page tipped-in by the publisher between the front free endpaper and the half-title page.

19.  Netflix Tie-In Hardcover (HarperCollins, 2017) 

As part of the merchandise for the 2017 Netflix show, HarperCollins published tie-in hardcover editions of the full series. Each book included photos of the Baudelaires on the front cover, and a photo of Count Olaf's disguise on the spine. The "Dear Reader" letter on the back cover was abbreviated to fit within the larger margins of the redesign. Box sets of Books 1-4 (the first season) and Books 5-9 (the second season) were also released.

20.  Second Black Friday Signed Edition (HarperCollins, 2017) 

In 2016 and 2017, HarperCollins published signed editions of The Bad Beginning as a Barnes & Noble exclusive, released on Black Friday. The editions were signed by Daniel Handler on a special page tipped-in by the publisher between the front free endpaper and the half-title page.

21.  Barnes & Noble Rare Edition (HarperCollins, 2017) 

The 2003 Rare Edition was reissued in 2017 as a Barnes & Noble exclusive. This 2017 edition kept the green eye-patterned covers and the Author's Notes, but the slipcase was now blue instead of tan. The Marvelous Marriage stand-up cardboard portrait was not included.

22.  Netflix Tie-In Paperback (Egmont, 2018) 

Egmont's version of the Netflix tie-in was published as a paperback in 2018. The front and back covers were similar to the 2017 HarperCollins hardcover, but the spine included a photo of the Baudelaires with Count Olaf instead of Olaf's disguise. The first chapter of All the Wrong Questions: Who Could That Be at This Hour? was included at the end.

24.  25th Anniversary Paperback (Farshore, 2024) 

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the first publication of The Bad Beginning in 1999, Farshore (rebranded from Egmont and now owned by HarperCollins) published new paperback editions of the full series with new cover artwork by Emily Gravett. Additional new artwork was included for the Ex-Libris bookplate and title page. The remainder of the interior illustrations were the original illustrations by Brett Helquist. The first chapter of The Reptile Room was included at the end.

25.  25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (HarperCollins, 2025) 

HarperCollins continued the celebration of the 25th anniversary by publishing a Deluxe Edition of The Bad Beginning in 2025. This edition was bound in soft-touch material, included gold foil stamping and eye-patterned page block edges (using the Rare Edition eye-pattern artwork), and contained a new foreword with character summaries by Daniel Handler and character illustrations by Brett Helquist.