4 Peter Matthiessen first editions are documented on this shelf, from At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1965) to Shadow Country (2008) across 4 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Peter Matthiessen 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 Peter Matthiessen copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- At Play in the Fields of the Lord — 1965 · Random HouseTrue first published by Random House, New York, 1965, with 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page — Random House states 'First Edition' on the first printing and drops it on later printings (the '2'-terminating/-beginning number line is the same house lineage). Bound in quarter black cloth over beige cloth/boards with a gilt device to the front board, gilt spine lettering, and an orange (orange-red)…. US Random House 1965 is the true first and the collected edition (a National Book Award for Fiction finalist). The census note of a 'UK Heinemann 1966' could not be independently confirmed in this pass and should be treated as unverified; the US-first identification and its points are not in doubt. No title-specific book-club issue was independently documented here. As a general caution for 1960s Random House titles, book-club copies typically lack the stated 'First Edition' and a flap price and often bear a blind stamp to the rear board — confirm the copyright statement and top-stain before attributing a first.
- The Tree Where Man Was Born — 1972 · E. P. DuttonE. P. Dutton & Co., New York, 1972, with color photographs by Eliot Porter. The first printing is identified by the first-printing statement on the copyright page and a priced first-state dust jacket on the front flap. US Dutton (New York) is the true first. The book was a National Book Award finalist. Confirm the copyright-page first-printing statement; book-club issues lack the jacket price.
- The Snow Leopard — 1978 · The Viking PressThe Viking Press, New York, 1978. The first printing is identified by the copyright-page statement that the book was first published in 1978 by The Viking Press, with no statement of a later printing. First-state dust jacket is priced on the front flap. US Viking (New York) is the true first; the UK Chatto & Windus edition followed in 1979. The book won the 1979 National Book Award for Contemporary Thought and a 1980 National Book Award in the paperback category. A separate Franklin Library leather issue exists and is not the trade first. Book-club reprints lack the jacket price. Confirm there is no later-printing statement on the copyright page.
- Shadow Country — 2008 · Modern LibraryIdentified by the number line on the copyright page rather than by a printed First Edition slug. The true first printing carries a complete number line whose lowest number is 1; a later printing drops the line so it ends at 3. Grey cloth hardcover with the original printed price on the front jacket flap. The US Modern Library (Random House) hardcover of 2008 is the true first edition. This is the consolidated and revised single-volume rendering of the Watson trilogy. It won the 2008 National Book Award for Fiction. No significant book-club edition is recorded. Confirm the first printing by the number line ending in or containing 1 rather than by any stated-edition wording.
More Literary Fiction (US) & Award Winners shelves: Peter Taylor, P.G. Wodehouse, Philip K. Dick, Philip Roth, Rainer Maria Rilke, Ralph Ellison.
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