# Is "A Field Guide to the Birds" by Roger Tory Peterson a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Field Guide to the Birds by Roger Tory Peterson (Houghton Mifflin, 1934) is identified by: First issue: '1934' printed in the title-page imprint (not only on the verso); the index misprints 'bog-pumper' as 'bob-pumper'; the four color plates carry tissue guards with descriptive letterpress; the Whistling Swan and White (Common) Egret plumages are printed gray or 'dirty.'. True first US edition, first issue, published 27 April 1934; only about 2,000 copies, which sold out within roughly ten days.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First issue: '1934' printed in the title-page imprint (not only on the verso); the index misprints 'bog-pumper' as 'bob-pumper'; the four color plates carry tissue guards with descriptive letterpress; the Whistling Swan and White (Common) Egret plumages are printed gray or 'dirty.'
- Publisher imprint reads Houghton Mifflin
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Roger Tory Peterson |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin |
| Year | 1934 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First issue: '1934' printed in the title-page imprint (not only on the verso); the index misprints 'bog-pumper' as 'bob-pumper'; the four… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First issue: '1934' printed in the title-page imprint (not only on the verso); the index misprints 'bog-pumper' as 'bob-pumper'; the four color plates carry tissue guards with descriptive letterpress; the Whistling Swan and White (Common) Egret plumages are printed gray or 'dirty.'

## Is this the true first?
True first US edition, first issue, published 27 April 1934; only about 2,000 copies, which sold out within roughly ten days. Later issues drop the title-page date (copyright year on the verso only), 'clean' the swan and egret plumage, and the final issue lacks the plate guard sheets.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition; the points are issue-states within the same edition. Absence of the title-page '1934' and a corrected index ('bog-pumper') indicate a later issue.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Field Guide to the Birds* by Roger Tory Peterson a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-field-guide-to-the-birds
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.