Edward Abbey First Editions

• Jonathan Troy — 1954 · Dodd, MeadDodd, Mead first-printing convention: title-page date of 1954 matching the copyright page, with no statement of a later printing. Bound in black paper-covered boards (glossy) stamped in yellow on the spine, in an unclipped color pictorial dust jacket designed by Stefan Salter. True first and Abbey's first book; a US-only publication. Abbey disowned it and never allowed a reprint, so the 1954 Dodd, Mead first is the only edition; genuinely scarce, especially in jacket. No book club edition exists; every copy is the trade first. Be wary of ex-library copies and restored or price-clipped jackets presented as fine.
• The Brave Cowboy — 1956 · Dodd, MeadDodd, Mead first-printing convention: 1956 title-page date matching the copyright page with no additional-printing statement, the imprint reading Dodd, Mead & Co., New York. Subtitle on the title page reads An Old Tale in a New Time. Bound in tan and black paper boards with red and gilt spine lettering. The first-state dust jacket should retain the original printed price on the front flap (its amount is not…. True first is the 1956 Dodd, Mead US edition, considered the scarcest of Abbey's novels. Basis for the 1962 film Lonely Are the Brave; later film-tie-in paperbacks are not firsts. A book-club edition does exist: the Western Book Club issue (1957), bound in bright turquoise-blue paper boards with the spine stamped in black, readily distinguished from the trade first's half black cloth over tan boards with red spine lettering. Separately, the 1977 University of New Mexico Press reissue revises the text by deleting the second-to-last sentence, which in the 1956 first declares Jack Burns dead;….
• Fire on the Mountain — 1962 · Dial PressDial Press first printing: 1962 on the title/copyright pages with no statement of a later printing. Bound in quarter red cloth over yellow paper-covered boards; dust jacket designed by Barbara Koontz. True first US edition; Abbey's third novel. No significant book club concern; reprints are later-dated.
• Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness — 1968 · McGraw-HillThe true first edition is the McGraw-Hill Book Company issue of 1968 (Abbey's first book-length work of nonfiction), with "First Edition" stated on the copyright page and no later printings listed. Collation runs to xiv plus 269 pages; the first printing was limited to about five thousand copies. Bound in brown cloth with the spine lettered in white and beige. The dust jacket and the in-text drawings are by Peter…. US McGraw-Hill 1968 is the true first; the UK (Robert Hale, 1969) edition is a separate first. A separate 'Desert Solitaire' entry already exists; this entry adds copyright-page and jacket points to distinguish the true first from later trade reprints and the Ballantine paperback. Book-club editions and later printings reprint the text but are not the first edition: they omit the priced first-state jacket, are usually printed on thinner paper, and may bear a book-club blind-stamp to the rear board. Use the stated "First Edition" line and the priced Parnall jacket to be certain.
• Black Sun — 1971 · Simon and SchusterSimon & Schuster first edition, 1971, with 'First printing' stated on the copyright page. Black cloth, spine stamped in yellow; dust jacket with the printed price on the front flap, unclipped. About 159 pages. US Simon & Schuster 1971 is the true first. Abbey often named this his personal favorite among his novels; signed copies are scarce. No prominent book-club edition; the first printing is identified by the stated 'First printing' and the printed-price jacket, and later paperbacks are clearly marked.
• The Monkey Wrench Gang — 1975 · J.B. LippincottThe true first edition, first printing was published by J. B. Lippincott Company in 1975. It is bound in half red cloth over black boards, with the title stamped in silver on the spine and a small silver-stamped monkey wrench on the front board, and has two-page contiguous map endpapers front and rear. The first-issue dust jacket was designed by Paul Bacon and should carry its printed price on the front flap.…. US Lippincott (1975) is the true first. The 1985 Dream Garden Press 'Tenth Anniversary' edition illustrated by R. Crumb is a desirable 'first thus' (often signed/limited) but is NOT the true first. UK edition follows the US. Book-club editions and later printings reprint the text but are not the first edition. Note in particular that the well-known R. Crumb-illustrated edition is the 1985 tenth-anniversary edition (Dream Garden Press), NOT the 1975 first; a Crumb wrap-around jacket therefore indicates a later illustrated edition, not the Lippincott first.
• The Journey Home: Some Words in Defense of the American West — 1977 · E.P. DuttonDutton first printing: states First Edition / First Printing on the copyright page and carries a complete number line, dated 1977. Illustrated by Jim Stiles; bound in quarter black cloth over orange paper-covered boards. True first US edition; a collection of essays. No major book club concern.
• Abbey's Road — 1979 · E. P. DuttonFirst printing carries the full number line 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 on the copyright page, ending in 1. Dutton imprint on the title and copyright pages; jacket carries the printed price on the front flap. US Dutton 1979 first edition, first printing. A collection of Abbey's travel and nature essays. The US issue is the true first. Identified by the intact number line ending in 1. Later printings end in a higher number (for example a third printing ends in 3), so an incomplete line indicates a reprint.
• Good News — 1980 · E.P. DuttonFirst printing bears Dutton's first-edition identification on the copyright page (a 'First Edition' statement / number row per Dutton's early-1980s convention). Dust jacket priced 10.95 on the front flap. True first US edition of this novel (Abbey's dystopian work); a simultaneous softcover issue also exists. No major book-club edition concern.
• Down the River — 1982 · E.P. DuttonFirst printing of this essay collection, published by E.P. Dutton, New York, 1982, following Dutton's house practice of stating its first-edition identification on the copyright page. Octavo, 242 pages, bound in quarter white cloth over blue paper-covered boards with gilt titling to the spine. Issued in a pictorial dust jacket that on a first-state example retains its printed price to the front flap; the price…. True first US edition of the essay collection; there is no earlier printing in another country to precede it. No major book-club edition concern.
• Beyond the Wall: Essays from the Outside — 1984 · Holt, Rinehart and WinstonFirst printing has the full number line 1-10 (a '1' present) on the copyright page. Dust jacket priced 14.95 on the front flap. Hardcover first printing is scarce; a trade paperback was issued simultaneously. True first US edition. No major book-club edition concern.
• Slumgullion Stew: An Edward Abbey Reader — 1984 · E.P. DuttonFirst printing bears Dutton's first-edition identification on the copyright page. Edited by Abbey from his own work, with his selections from twelve of his books, including a rare excerpt from Jonathan Troy and a then-unpublished excerpt from The Rites of Spring; 383 pages, illustrated by the author. The hardcover is bound in quarter white cloth with black paper over boards, the title stamped in red/maroon on the…. First-thus reader (first collected appearance of this selection); later reissued and retitled The Best of Edward Abbey by Sierra Club Books in 1988. The 1984 Dutton hardcover and its simultaneous Dutton softcover are the first appearances of this compilation. No book-club edition concern.
• The Best of Edward Abbey — 1988 · Sierra Club BooksFirst Sierra Club Books printing, San Francisco, 1988, per their copyright-page convention. It reworks the 1984 Dutton reader Slumgullion Stew rather than presenting a first appearance of most of the contents; the Sierra Club edition adds later selections not in the 1984 volume (including material from Hayduke Lives!, journal excerpts, an account of a trip to the Sea of Cortez, and poetry) and carries 11 line…. Not a true first for the bulk of the contents: it is the 1988 Sierra Club reworking of the 1984 Dutton reader Slumgullion Stew, most of whose selections were first collected in 1984. Collectors seeking the first collected appearance of that core material want the 1984 Dutton Slumgullion Stew; note, however, that a portion of the Sierra Club selections is new to this 1988 volume. No book-club edition concern.
• The Fool's Progress: An Honest Novel — 1988 · Henry Holt and CompanyFirst printing carries the full number line ending in 1 on the copyright page, with the Henry Holt imprint. Dust jacket carries the printed price on the front flap. Later trade printings show a shortened number line. US Henry Holt 1988 trade first edition, first printing. Abbey's late autobiographical novel, published shortly before his 1989 death. No book-club edition of note. The trade first is identified by the complete number line ending in 1; reprints carry an incomplete line.
• Hayduke Lives! — 1990 · Little, BrownLittle, Brown and Company first printing (Boston, Toronto, London, 1990), ISBN 0-316-00411-1, states First Edition on the copyright page accompanied by a full descending number line. Bound in quarter orange cloth over yellow paper boards with gilt spine lettering; collates roughly [13], 4-308, [2] pages. The first-state dust jacket carries the printed price on the front flap (present, not clipped, on a true…. True first US edition; sequel to The Monkey Wrench Gang, issued after Abbey's 1989 death, so no author-signed firsts exist. No major book-club edition concern; later Little, Brown printings are identified by an advanced number line and the removal of first-issue status, and a wraps softcover issue also exists.
• Confessions of a Barbarian: Selections from the Journals of Edward Abbey — 1994 · Little, BrownLittle, Brown and Company, Boston, 1994. First printing carries the full number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. Quarter red paper over blue paper boards, silver spine lettering; illustrated with Abbey's own drawings; jacket designed by Michael Leary. Edited and introduced by David Petersen. Posthumous. First edition thus of Abbey's selected journals, assembled posthumously by David Petersen. No book-club edition concern for the Little, Brown first trade printing.

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