# Is "A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains" by Isabella L. Bird a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella L. Bird (John Murray, 1879) is identified by: The true first edition was published in October 1879 by John Murray of London and collates xii, 296 pages with eight leaves of plates, octavo. The John Murray London edition of October 1879 is the first edition; an American edition from G.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first edition was published in October 1879 by John Murray of London and collates xii, 296 pages with eight leaves of plates, octavo
- The first-printing title page carries only the date 1879, with no separate edition statement and no copyright notice in the preliminaries
- The text is presented as a series of letters Bird wrote to her sister Henrietta describing her 1873 journey through the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, including her ascent of Longs Peak
- Publisher imprint reads John Murray
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Isabella L. Bird |
| Publisher | John Murray |
| Year | 1879 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first edition was published in October 1879 by John Murray of London and collates xii, 296 pages with eight leaves of plates… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The true first edition was published in October 1879 by John Murray of London and collates xii, 296 pages with eight leaves of plates, octavo. The first-printing title page carries only the date 1879, with no separate edition statement and no copyright notice in the preliminaries. The text is presented as a series of letters Bird wrote to her sister Henrietta describing her 1873 journey through the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, including her ascent of Longs Peak.

## Is this the true first?
The John Murray London edition of October 1879 is the first edition; an American edition from G. P. Putnam's Sons of New York followed the same year.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains* by Isabella L. Bird a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-ladys-life-in-the-rocky-mountains
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.