4 Leslie Marmon Silko first editions are documented on this shelf, from Ceremony (1977) to Almanac of the Dead (1991) across 4 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Leslie Marmon Silko 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 Leslie Marmon Silko copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- Ceremony — 1977 · The Viking PressCopyright page shows only the 1977 Viking date with no later printings listed ('A Richard Seaver Book / The Viking Press'); Viking of this period used no number line, so a first printing simply carries no 'second/third printing' notice. Dust-jacket front photograph by the author's father, Lee H. Marmon (his image of Mt. Taylor and old Acoma pueblo); price present at the front flap. The defining point is the…. The US Viking Press 1977 edition is the true first and Silko's first NOVEL (her poetry collection 'Laguna Woman,' 1974, precedes it, so this is her first novel, not her first book). There is no competing simultaneous UK first — the Viking printing is the first appearance. The defining first-printing tell is the first-issue jacket-flap wording 'Some comments on Leslie Silko'; the July 1977 second printing carries…. Book-club and later reprints lack the clean 1977-only copyright-page state and the first-issue jacket flap. Track the two documented jacket states: first issue 'Some comments on Leslie Silko' (first printing) vs. 'Some Comments On: Ceremony' (July 1977 second printing). A book-club copy has neither the priced first-issue jacket nor the first-printing copyright-page state.
- Ceremony signed first — 1977 · VikingFirst edition published by The Viking Press, New York, 1977 (ISBN 0670209864). The primary point is the dust jacket: the true first issue carries the rear flap heading "Some comments on Leslie Silko," whereas the July 1977 reprinting substitutes an updated blurb headed "Some Comments On: Ceremony." The jacket reproduces a photograph by the author's father, Lee H. Marmon (of Mt. Taylor and old Acoma pueblo). A…. The 1977 Viking hardcover is the true first edition; the first-issue dust jacket (with the "Some comments on Leslie Silko" rear flap) precedes the second-issue jacket introduced with the July 1977 reprinting. Book-club editions and later printings reprint the text but are not the first edition and are far less collectible. Counter-intuitive: a number line on a 1980s or later Viking/Penguin printing usually signals a later printing, not a first. Use the jacket and copyright-page points above to be certain.
- Storyteller — 1981 · Seaver BooksSeaver Books imprint, 1981. Issued simultaneously in trade paperback wrappers (stating 'First Edition' on the copyright page) and in a clothbound hardcover. Unusual oblong octavo format combining poetry, prose, and family photographs. The true first carries the Seaver imprint with no later-printing notice. The US Seaver Books edition of 1981, distributed by Grove Press, is the true first. Both the paperback and the clothbound hardcover are first-printing states. Later Arcade and Penguin reissues are 'first thus.'. Identified by the Seaver Books imprint and the absence of any later-printing notice; reissues bear different imprints and added dates. Note the paperback issue is in wrappers and has no dust jacket.
- Almanac of the Dead — 1991 · Simon & SchusterSimon & Schuster, New York, 1991. Quarter red cloth over orange paper boards, blind-stamped front board, gilt-lettered spine; 763,[1] pp; color typographic endpapers. 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page with the number line. Original unclipped color pictorial dust jacket. US Simon & Schuster 1991 is the true first (Silko's second novel). Watch for issues lacking the number line, with a blind-stamp to the rear board, or a price-clipped jacket; these are not the collectible first.
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