4 John Nichols first editions are documented on this shelf, from The Sterile Cuckoo (1965) to The Magic Journey (1978) across 4 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that John Nichols title from later printings and book-club copies — the publisher and year to expect, the number-line or edition-statement conventions, and the tells that show up in online listings.
Identification only, per the house rule: no prices and no appraisals here. Checking a John Nichols copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- The Sterile Cuckoo — 1965 · David McKay CompanyDavid McKay imprint, 1965; copyright page shows '1965' with no additional dates or printing notices; purple cloth boards with gilt spine; jacket designed by Vivian Berger bearing the original printed price; first-issue art (pre-1969 film). Nichols's first novel. The US David McKay edition of 1965 is the true first and Nichols's debut; filmed in 1969 (Liza Minnelli). Film-tie-in paperbacks are later. Advance reading copies exist in printed blue stiff wrappers. Distinguished by the McKay imprint, the absence of later-printing notices, and the original priced jacket without film imagery.
- The Milagro Beanfield War — 1974 · Holt, Rinehart and WinstonStated 'First Edition' on the copyright page; Holt, Rinehart and Winston imprint; black cloth boards with gilt spine; 445 pages, illustrated by Rini Templeton; dust jacket bearing the original printed price (first-issue art, pre-1988 film). First volume of the New Mexico Trilogy. US Holt, Rinehart and Winston (1974) is the true first—the opening volume of Nichols's New Mexico trilogy (with The Magic Journey and The Nirvana Blues). Signed copies are sought; the 1988 Redford film drove later printings/tie-ins. Later Ballantine/Owl paperback reprints and film tie-ins (1988) are the common confusion; they lack the 'First Edition' statement and the Holt imprint. No prominent book-club hardcover precedes or rivals the Holt first.
- The Milagro Beanfield War signed first — 1974 · Holt RinehartHolt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, 1974, first edition, octavo, 445 pages, illustrated by Rini Templeton. The binding is black cloth with the title gilt-stamped on the spine. The true first is complete in its unclipped dust jacket, which should retain the printed price on the upper front flap. The US Holt, Rinehart and Winston 1974 edition is the true first; the first UK edition (Andre Deutsch) did not appear until 1977, so the American issue precedes all others. Confirm by the Holt, Rinehart and Winston imprint and the Rini Templeton illustrations. Book-club editions and later printings reprint the text but are not the first edition. Book-club copies typically bear a blind stamp to the rear board and a smaller, cheaper binding, and lack the priced first-issue dust jacket. Use the points above to be certain.
- The Magic Journey — 1978 · Holt, Rinehart and WinstonStated 'First Edition' on the copyright page with the number line printed down to 1; Holt, Rinehart and Winston imprint; orange cloth over yellow boards with gilt spine; dust jacket bearing the original printed price. Second volume of the New Mexico Trilogy. The US Holt, Rinehart and Winston edition of 1978 is the true first. Identified by the stated 'First Edition' with the full number line and the priced jacket; book-club copies omit these and carry a blind-stamped board.
More Nature, Western & Americana shelves: Kent Haruf, Khaled Hosseini, Larry McMurtry, Leslie Marmon Silko, Louis L'Amour, N. Scott Momaday.
← All authors · All genres · part of the First-Edition Identification resource.