# Is "A Confederate General from Big Sur" by Richard Brautigan a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Confederate General from Big Sur by Richard Brautigan (Grove Press, 1964) is identified by: First edition published by Grove Press, New York, 1964, in blue cloth with silver lettering, 159 pages, jacket art by Larry Rivers and jacket photograph by Erik Weber. True first is the 1964 Grove Press hardcover.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition published by Grove Press, New York, 1964, in blue cloth with silver lettering, 159 pages, jacket art by Larry Rivers and jacket photograph by Erik Weber
- The copyright page carries no printing statement; the first issue jacket has the printed price on the front flap
- Brautigan's first published novel
- Publisher imprint reads Grove Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Richard Brautigan |
| Publisher | Grove Press |
| Year | 1964 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition published by Grove Press, New York, 1964, in blue cloth with silver lettering, 159 pages, jacket art by Larry Rivers and… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition published by Grove Press, New York, 1964, in blue cloth with silver lettering, 159 pages, jacket art by Larry Rivers and jacket photograph by Erik Weber. The copyright page carries no printing statement; the first issue jacket has the printed price on the front flap. Brautigan's first published novel.

## Is this the true first?
True first is the 1964 Grove Press hardcover. Trout Fishing in America was written earlier but not published until 1967, so Confederate General was the first of his novels to appear in print. Preceded only by his 1950s small-press poetry pamphlets and broadsides.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book club edition is a routine concern here; the point of issue is the priced first-issue jacket and the absence of any later-printing statement.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Confederate General from Big Sur* by Richard Brautigan a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-confederate-general-from-big-sur
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.