11 Marilynne Robinson first editions are documented on this shelf, from Housekeeping (1980) to Reading Genesis (2024) across 3 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Marilynne Robinson 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 Marilynne Robinson copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- Housekeeping — 1980 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFirst printing carries no statement of a later printing on the copyright page (FSG's convention of indicating only reprints) with the number line intact. Bound in quarter blue cloth over lighter-blue paper boards with gilt spine titling. A notable variant exists: trial dust jackets on which the author and title lettering on the front panel and spine appear in deep orange rather than the issued blue-black.…. The US FSG printing is the true first; the UK Faber edition (1981) follows. The orange-lettered trial jacket precedes the issued blue-black jacket and is the priority collecting state. No prominent book-club edition; later printings state the printing on the copyright page. Be cautious of later FSG reprints and of later reissue jackets paired with a first-printing text.
- Mother Country: Britain, the Welfare State and Nuclear Pollution — 1989 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFirst printing is the Farrar, Straus and Giroux edition stating "First Edition" on the copyright page with a number line including the numeral 1. The dust jacket carries the original printed price. Robinson's first work of nonfiction. Both the US Farrar, Straus and Giroux edition and the UK Faber and Faber edition appeared in 1989. Precedence between the two could not be established from reliable sources, so neither should be asserted as the definitive true first; the FSG edition is the US first. A National Book Award finalist in nonfiction. No book-club concern. Later printings indicate a higher printing.
- The Death of Adam: Essays on Modern Thought — 1998 · Houghton MifflinFirst printing is the Houghton Mifflin edition stating "First Edition" on the copyright page with a number line including the numeral 1. Robinson's first essay collection; the dust jacket carries the original printed price. The US Houghton Mifflin edition (1998) is the true first. No book-club concern. Later printings indicate a higher printing.
- Gilead — 2004 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxCopyright page states "First edition, 2004" with a full FSG number line beginning with 1. Bound in quarter cloth. First-state jacket carries the printed price and no Pulitzer announcement printed on it. Published well after Robinson's debut, Housekeeping. The US FSG printing is the true first; the UK Virago edition (2005) follows. Signed copies are sought after. Later printings state a higher printing number and shorten the number line; later-state jackets may add the Pulitzer win. The true first has the complete number line beginning with 1 and a clean first-state jacket.
- Home — 2008 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFirst printing states "First edition, 2008" on the copyright page accompanied by a complete number line that includes the numeral 1. The dust jacket carries the original printed price. Companion novel to Gilead. The US Farrar, Straus and Giroux edition (2008) is the true first. The UK Virago edition followed. Later printings drop the 1 from the number line or state a higher printing.
- Absence of Mind — 2010 · Yale University PressNumber line ending in 1; hardcover collecting Robinson's Dwight H. Terry Lectures at Yale. Full title continues 'The Dispelling of Inwardness from the Modern Myth of the Self.' Nonfiction. Yale University Press (US) first edition, 2010; single-territory academic first with no competing prior issue. No notable book-club edition.
- When I Was a Child I Read Books: Essays — 2012 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFarrar, Straus and Giroux hardcover, 2012 (ISBN 9780374298784), stating 'First edition' on the copyright page with a descending number line ending in 1. The essay collection was published March 2012; a true first pairs the stated 'First edition' line with the intact first-state jacket retaining its printed price on the flap. FSG (US) first edition, 2012 (ISBN 9780374298784); the stated 'First edition' wording with the number line ending in 1 is confirmed by dealer descriptions of firsts. No notable book-club edition.
- Lila — 2014 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFirst printing states "First edition, 2014" on the copyright page with a complete number line that includes the numeral 1. The dust jacket carries the original printed price. Third novel of the Gilead cycle; winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award. The US Farrar, Straus and Giroux edition (2014) is the true first. The UK Virago edition followed. Later printings drop the 1 from the number line or state a higher printing.
- The Givenness of Things: Essays — 2015 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxThe first trade edition states 'First edition, 2015' on the copyright page with a full number line descending to 1. The FSG hardcover is issued in half-cloth binding, octavo, and comes in a first-state dust jacket (design by Strick & Williams) that carries the printed price and is not clipped. US Farrar, Straus and Giroux first edition is the true first. No notable book-club edition.
- What Are We Doing Here?: Essays — 2018 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFirst trade edition states 'First edition' on the copyright page with a full number line descending to 1. Farrar, Straus and Giroux hardcover in dust jacket, published in the United States in February 2018, with the printed jacket price present on the flap. US Farrar, Straus and Giroux first edition is the first American edition, published February 2018. A UK edition from Virago (Little, Brown), ISBN 9780349010465, appeared very close in time the same year, so US-vs-UK precedence is near-simultaneous rather than sharply US-first; collectors should compare the imprint and copyright page. No notable book-club edition.
- Reading Genesis — 2024 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxUS first edition states 'First edition, 2024' on the copyright page with a full number line descending to 1. Farrar, Straus and Giroux hardcover in a dust jacket carrying the printed price on the front flap of an unclipped example. The US Farrar, Straus and Giroux edition was published March 12, 2024, two days ahead of the UK Virago edition (March 14, 2024); the two are near-simultaneous, with FSG holding marginal precedence. No notable book-club edition.
More Literary Fiction (US) & Award Winners shelves: Mark Twain, Martin Amis, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, Mary Gaitskill, Mary McCarthy, Mary Oliver.
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