John McPhee First Editions

• A Sense of Where You Are — 1965 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFSG first printing, 1965, with no additional-printing statement on the copyright page. Black cloth with gilt spine lettering; the dust jacket carries the original price. McPhee's first book, a profile of Princeton basketball player Bill Bradley. US true first edition (FSG). The author's debut book; genuinely scarce in the original dust jacket. No known book-club edition; later reprints add printing statements.
• The Headmaster: Frank L. Boyden of Deerfield — 1966 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFarrar, Straus and Giroux first printing, 1966 (149 pp.), with no later-printing statement on the copyright page. Bound in green cloth with gilt lettering to the spine. The first-state dust jacket was designed by Lawrence Ratzkin (jacket sketch by Donald Greason) and carries the publisher's price on the front flap. McPhee's second book. US true first edition (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 1966). No known book-club edition.
• Oranges — 1967 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFSG first printing, 1967, in light blue cloth boards with the top edge of the text block stained light yellow; no additional-printing statement on the copyright page; dust jacket priced. McPhee's third book. US true first edition (FSG). No known book-club edition; later printings are stated on the copyright page.
• The Pine Barrens — 1968 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFirst edition, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 1968, 157 pages, octavo, bearing the statement 'First printing, 1968' on the copyright page with no later-printing line. Bound in green cloth boards with green endpapers and a colored top edge, gilt lettering to the spine. First-state dust jacket retains the printed publisher's price on the front flap; a first is 'unclipped' when that price is present. US true first edition (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1968). No known book-club edition.
• A Roomful of Hovings and Other Profiles — 1969 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFarrar, Straus and Giroux first printing, with no statement of a later printing on the copyright page and the price present on the dust jacket. Collects New Yorker profiles including Thomas Hoving, Euell Gibbons, and Robert Twynam. US true first (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). McPhee is an American author published first in New York. No known book club edition.
• Levels of the Game — 1969 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFarrar, Straus and Giroux first printing, with no later-printing statement on the copyright page and the price present on the dust jacket. Study of the 1968 US Open semifinal between Arthur Ashe and Clark Graebner. US true first (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). No known book club edition.
• The Crofter and the Laird — 1970 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFarrar, Straus and Giroux stated first printing, bound in red cloth, in a tartan-patterned dust jacket bearing the printed price. Illustrated by James Graves. The copyright page carries the 1969, 1970 dates. McPhee's account of life on the Hebridean island of Colonsay. US true first (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1970), with a stated first printing on the copyright page. No known book-club edition.
• Encounters with the Archdruid — 1971 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxBrown cloth (cloth-backed boards), gilt-lettered spine; first-issue dust jacket with price present. The first printing carries NO printing statement on the copyright page; later printings add a printing/number statement. US Farrar, Straus and Giroux true first. Full title: Encounters with the Archdruid: Narratives About a Conservationist and Three of His Natural Enemies. Material first appeared in The New Yorker. Identify the first by ABSENCE of any later-printing statement on the copyright page, not by a stated 'first printing.' A book-club issue lacks the dust-jacket price and is typically smaller/blind-stamped.
• Wimbledon: A Celebration — 1972 · The Viking PressFirst American edition, The Viking Press, New York, 1972; text by John McPhee with photographs by Alfred Eisenstaedt, a quarto of about 120 pages profusely illustrated in black-and-white with a run of full-page plates at the rear. Bound in bright green linen with gilt lettering on the spine and gilt decoration to the front board, in the original photographic dust jacket bearing its printed price. No…. US true first (The Viking Press). This title departs from McPhee's usual FSG imprint because it is an illustrated collaboration with photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt. No known book club edition. Confirm the first printing by the absence of any added-printing statement and the intact priced photographic jacket.
• The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed — 1973 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFarrar, Straus and Giroux first printing, 1973, with no later-printing statement on the copyright page. Bound in orange paper-covered boards with a sage-green cloth backstrip, gilt spine lettering, and a dark-orange topstain. The first-state pictorial dust jacket carries the original printed price on the front flap; that price should be present (unclipped) on an unrestored jacket. Chronicles the Aereon…. US true first (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1973); first edition and first printing coincide. No known book club edition.
• The Curve of Binding Energy — 1974 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFarrar, Straus and Giroux first printing (stated first edition, first printing per dealers), with the price present on the dust jacket. A profile of physicist Theodore B. Taylor and the danger of illicit nuclear weapons. US true first (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). No known book club edition.
• Pieces of the Frame — 1975 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFarrar, Straus and Giroux first edition, 1975, with the first printing stated on the copyright page and no later-printing indicators. The essay collection is bound in blue cloth boards with silver spine lettering and has a light green topstain, 308 pages. The color pictorial dust jacket was designed by Jacqueline Schuman; a first-issue jacket should carry the original printed price on the flap (price-clipped…. US true first (FSG); McPhee published exclusively with FSG, so there is no competing US or UK edition of precedence. No known book-club edition; confirm the first-printing statement on the copyright page and the FSG pictorial jacket.
• The Survival of the Bark Canoe — 1975 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFSG first printing, with 'First printing, 1975' stated on the copyright page and no additional-printing statement. Brown cloth with gilt spine lettering and a light brown topstain; illustrated with canoe sketches through the text and several leaves of photographs and drawings at the rear. The priced first-issue FSG dust jacket should be present. Catalogued as Ahearn APG 013. US true first (FSG); McPhee published exclusively with FSG. No known book-club edition.
• The John McPhee Reader — 1976 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFSG first printing, edited with an introduction by William L. Howarth, with no statement of later printing on the copyright page and an intact FSG dust jacket. Anthology drawn from McPhee's first twelve books. US true first (FSG); anthology (first-thus). No known book-club edition.
• Coming into the Country — 1977 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFirst edition, first printing states 'First printing, 1977' on the copyright page (FSG convention) with no later-printing line. Bound in cloth/quarter-cloth; first-issue dust jacket with the Alaska-themed art and front-flap price. US Farrar, Straus and Giroux (1977) is the true first—McPhee's landmark Alaska book. FSG's 'First printing, 1977' statement (removed on later printings) is the decisive point. No prominent book-club issue; later FSG printings drop the 'First printing, 1977' line, and the Noonday/FSG paperbacks are obvious 'first thus.' The stated first-printing line is the check.
• Giving Good Weight — 1979 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFSG first printing, 261 pages, a collection of five essays including the title piece on New York City's Greenmarket farmers, "The Pinball Philosophy," and "Brigade de Cuisine." Bound in brown cloth with red spine lettering and brown endpapers; the copyright page shows no statement of a later printing. The first-issue dust jacket carries a design by Lawrence Ratzkin and should retain its printed front-flap price…. US true first (Farrar, Straus and Giroux); McPhee published exclusively with FSG. No known book-club edition.
• Basin and Range — 1981 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxCloth-backed boards; first-state dust jacket with price present. Copyright reads 'Copyright 1980, 1981 by John McPhee.' The first printing carries NO printing statement on the copyright page; later printings add a printing/number statement. First volume of the geology series later collected in Annals of the Former World. US Farrar, Straus and Giroux true first. Identify the first by the ABSENCE of any later-printing statement on the copyright page — there is no stated 'First printing, 1981.' Later printings add a statement. The 1980/1981 copyright dates reflect prior New Yorker serialization and do not by themselves indicate a reprint.
• In Suspect Terrain — 1983 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFSG first printing, with no statement of later printing on the copyright page and an intact FSG dust jacket. Second of McPhee's geology books (later gathered in Annals of the Former World); brown cloth with gilt lettering. US true first (FSG); McPhee published exclusively with FSG. No known book-club edition.
• La Place de la Concorde Suisse — 1984 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFSG first printing, identified by the copyright-page printing statement with no additional-printing line, in the original silver dust jacket with the printed price intact on the front flap. McPhee's study of the Swiss Army, an octavo of roughly 150 pages. Bound in light grey cloth stamped in blind, the spine lettered in black. Referenced in Ahearn's Author Price Guides. US true first (FSG, 1984); McPhee published his trade books exclusively through FSG. A separate signed limited issue of 200 numbered copies was also produced, issued without dust jacket in a slipcase. No known book-club edition. Confirm the first printing by the copyright-page statement and the intact silver jacket bearing its printed price.
• Table of Contents — 1985 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFarrar, Straus and Giroux, 1985. First printing identified by the FSG 'First printing, 1985' statement on the copyright page (later FSG practice also carries a full '1' number line). Navy cloth; dust jacket priced on the front flap. Collection of eight New Yorker pieces written 1981 to 1984. US true first (FSG). No separately published earlier volume; the constituent pieces first appeared in The New Yorker. No known Book Club Edition.
• Heirs of General Practice — 1986 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFarrar, Straus and Giroux, 1986 (copyright 1984). Issued as a paperback original, not a hardcover; the first FSG book form is the softcover, ISBN 0374519749. This account of Maine family physicians first appeared in The New Yorker and was also collected in Table of Contents (1985). US true first is the 1986 FSG paperback original. The text was published earlier within Table of Contents (FSG, 1985); there is no separate hardcover first of this title. No known Book Club Edition.
• Rising from the Plains — 1986 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFarrar, Straus and Giroux, 1986. First printing identified by the FSG copyright-page first-printing statement; hardcover in cloth, priced dust jacket. Third book in McPhee's geology transect (Wyoming), later gathered into Annals of the Former World. US true first (FSG), hardcover. ISBN 0374250820. No known Book Club Edition.
• The Control of Nature — 1989 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxBound in red-brown (brown) cloth-backed boards with gilt spine stamping; the copyright page states 'First edition, 1989' with no additional printing statement. First-state dust jacket retains the printed price on the flap and should not be relied on if price-clipped to confirm the first issue. The US Farrar, Straus and Giroux hardcover is the true first (New York, 1989). The three constituent essays first appeared in The New Yorker before book publication. Later printings add a printing/number statement to the copyright page; the true first carries only the stated 'First edition, 1989' with no number line.
• Looking for a Ship — 1990 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFarrar, Straus and Giroux, 1990. First printing shows the FSG copyright-page first-printing statement; the first-state dust jacket carries the FSG date code '0990' near the lower corner of the rear panel. Hardcover, ISBN 0374190771. US true first (FSG), hardcover. No known Book Club Edition.
• Assembling California — 1993 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFarrar, Straus and Giroux, 1993. First edition, first printing identified by the FSG first-printing statement and complete number line on the copyright page. Cloth-backed boards, priced dust jacket. Fourth book of the geology transect (later part of Annals of the Former World). ISBN 0374106452. US true first (FSG), hardcover. No known Book Club Edition.
• The Ransom of Russian Art — 1994 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFarrar, Straus and Giroux, 1994. First edition, first printing identified by the FSG first-printing statement and complete number line on the copyright page. Hardcover with priced dust jacket. ISBN 0374246823. US true first (FSG), hardcover. No known Book Club Edition.
• The Second John McPhee Reader — 1996 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFirst edition, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 1996 (ISBN 0-374-25686-1). FSG firsts of this period state 'First edition' with the year on the copyright page; the first printing shows the low number present in any number line and no statement of a later printing. The FSG dust jacket should carry its original printed price on the flap. Anthology gathering selections from McPhee's books published since 1975,…. US true first (FSG, New York, 1996); first-thus for this second reader anthology. No known book-club edition.
• Irons in the Fire — 1997 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFarrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 1997, first printing; collection of seven essays. Bound in beige (tan) paper-covered boards with black lettering to the spine, issued in a pictorial dust jacket. The copyright page carries no later-printing statement; second printings are so designated. US true first (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 1997). No known book-club edition; the trade paperback (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998) is a later, distinct issue.
• Annals of the Former World — 1998 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxBlack cloth; copyright page states 'First edition, 1998'; first-state dust jacket with price present. Omnibus collecting the geology tetralogy (Basin and Range; In Suspect Terrain; Rising from the Plains; Assembling California) plus the new section Crossing the Craton. US Farrar, Straus and Giroux true first of the combined omnibus. Awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1999. Later printings add a printing/number statement to the copyright page; the true first carries only the stated 'First edition, 1998'.
• Coming into the Country — deeper McPhee: Annals of the Former World — 1998 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxCopyright page carries the FSG 'First edition, first printing' statement with no later-printing notation. ISBN 0-374-10520-0 (978-0-374-10520-4); black cloth binding, roughly 700 pages, in a pictorial dust jacket whose printed price should be present and unclipped. The US FSG edition is the true first omnibus, collecting Basin and Range (1981), In Suspect Terrain (1983), Rising from the Plains (1986), and Assembling California (1993), plus the new final section Crossing the Craton. Won the 1999 Pulitzer for General Nonfiction. No book-club issue of note; the individual constituent volumes (FSG, 1981-1993) are separate firsts. The FSG 'First edition, first printing' statement on the copyright page and the unclipped printed-price pictorial jacket identify this omnibus first.
• The Founding Fish — 2002 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFirst hardcover, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2002 (ISBN 0374104441). First printing per the FSG copyright-page convention, with the number line reading down to 1. Cloth-backed boards with black spine lettering; first-state full-colour photographic dust jacket reproducing period shad plates after Sherman F. Denton, with the original printed price present on the front flap. US true first (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2002); a hardcover original with no earlier printing. No known book-club edition. Confirm the full FSG number line ending in 1 on the copyright page; an advance uncorrected proof exists and precedes the trade first but is not the published first edition.
• Uncommon Carriers — 2006 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFarrar, Straus and Giroux hardcover first printing (New York, 2006), ISBN 978-0-374-28039-0. First-printing copies carry FSG's 'First edition, 2006' statement on the copyright page with the printer's key; a true first shows the complete number line ending in 1. Bound with a black paper-covered spine over maroon paper-covered boards, in a pictorial dust jacket that should retain its printed flap price. US true first (FSG, New York, 2006). No known book-club edition.
• Silk Parachute — 2010 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFarrar, Straus and Giroux hardcover, New York, 2010, ISBN 9780374263737, stated "First edition, 2010" on the copyright page with the FSG odd-even number line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2. Collection of ten essays; the title piece is McPhee's most anthologized. The first-issue FSG dust jacket carries the printed price on the front flap (present and unclipped on a true first-issue jacket). US true first (FSG, New York, 2010). No known book-club edition. Confirm the first by the stated "First edition" line and the FSG number line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2, and keep the priced first-issue jacket.
• Draft No. 4: On the Writing Process — 2017 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFarrar, Straus and Giroux hardcover first printing (New York, 2017), ISBN 978-0-374-14274-2. First-printing copies carry FSG's 'First edition, 2017' statement on the copyright page together with the printer's key; a true first shows the complete number line running down to 1. The FSG dust jacket should retain its printed price on the flap. A later FSG paperback, ISBN 978-0-374-53797-5, is a separate reprint, not…. US true first (FSG, New York, 2017). No known book-club edition.
• The Patch — 2018 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFSG first printing identified by a complete number line ending in 1 on the copyright page; issued in a dust jacket carrying the original printed retail price. Essay collection, McPhee's seventh with FSG, published November 2018; 256 pages. US true first edition (Farrar, Straus and Giroux); the US edition precedes the Australian Text Publishing edition. No known book club edition; later printings are marked by a number line that no longer descends to 1.
• Tabula Rasa: Volume 1 — 2023 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFSG first printing identified by a full number line descending to 1 on the copyright page; issued in a priced dust jacket. Published July 2023. US true first edition (FSG); the US edition precedes. No known book club edition.

More Nonfiction & Memoir shelves: John Milton, John Ruskin, John Stuart Mill, Jon Krakauer, Jonathan Swift, Joseph J. Ellis.

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