# Is "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (Parnassus Press, 1968) is identified by: First edition, first printing: Parnassus Press, Berkeley, 1968, drawings by Ruth Robbins (who also designed the jacket). US Parnassus Press 1968 is the true world first (a small press; modest print run).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first printing: Parnassus Press, Berkeley, 1968, drawings by Ruth Robbins (who also designed the jacket)
- The decisive first-printing point — documented by L.W. Currey — is a faint vertical ink smudge running the full height of the TITLE PAGE (generally through the 'r'/'d' of 'Wizard' down toward the 'P'/'s' of 'Press')
- Copies WITHOUT this smudge are later printings; the second printing adds a linen backing and lacks the smudge
- First printing was about 6,800 copies
- Issued in cloth with the Robbins jacket; the priced jacket flap should be present
- Publisher imprint reads Parnassus Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Ursula K. Le Guin |
| Publisher | Parnassus Press |
| Year | 1968 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first printing: Parnassus Press, Berkeley, 1968, drawings by Ruth Robbins (who also designed the jacket) |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, first printing: Parnassus Press, Berkeley, 1968, drawings by Ruth Robbins (who also designed the jacket). The decisive first-printing point — documented by L.W. Currey — is a faint vertical ink smudge running the full height of the TITLE PAGE (generally through the 'r'/'d' of 'Wizard' down toward the 'P'/'s' of 'Press'). Copies WITHOUT this smudge are later printings; the second printing adds a linen backing and lacks the smudge. First printing was about 6,800 copies. Issued in cloth with the Robbins jacket; the priced jacket flap should be present.

## Is this the true first?
US Parnassus Press 1968 is the true world first (a small press; modest print run). The first UK edition is Gollancz, 1971. The Parnassus first is far scarcer than the Gollancz. A trade issue and a simultaneous library issue exist (the library issue has a variant binding with reinforced hinges and rear-cover text); they share the same jacket and there is no established priority between them — both are first printing provided the title-page smudge is present.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Parnassus printings (no title-page smudge, linen backing), the later Atheneum printings, and the UK Gollancz edition are all later than the Parnassus first. An Atheneum or Gollancz imprint is decisive for a later edition — but among Parnassus-imprint copies, it is the title-page smudge, not the imprint alone, that separates a true first printing from a later Parnassus printing.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Wizard of Earthsea* by Ursula K. Le Guin a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-wizard-of-earthsea
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.