Richard Brautigan First Editions

• A Confederate General from Big Sur — 1964 · Grove PressFirst edition published by Grove Press, New York, 1964, in blue cloth with silver lettering, 159 pages, jacket art by Larry Rivers and jacket photograph by Erik Weber. The copyright page carries no printing statement; the first issue jacket has the printed price on the front flap. Brautigan's first published novel. True first is the 1964 Grove Press hardcover. Trout Fishing in America was written earlier but not published until 1967, so Confederate General was the first of his novels to appear in print. Preceded only by his 1950s small-press poetry pamphlets and broadsides. No book club edition is a routine concern here; the point of issue is the priced first-issue jacket and the absence of any later-printing statement.
• Trout Fishing in America — 1967 · Four Seasons FoundationFirst edition is the Four Seasons Foundation paperback (Writing 8 series), first issue with the correct price and series statement; the cover photograph of Brautigan in front of the Ben Franklin statue. No later-printing statement. The Four Seasons Foundation 1967 paperback is the true first; the Delacorte 1969 hardback is a later 'first thus'. Signed Brautigan firsts are scarce. The Delacorte hardback and later reprints are not the 1967 first; any hardback is a later edition.
• In Watermelon Sugar — 1968 · Four Seasons FoundationFirst edition published by Four Seasons Foundation, San Francisco, 1968, as 'Writing 21' in their Writing series. Trade issue in pictorial stiff wraps; a simultaneous signed limited edition of 50 copies was bound in blue cloth-backed boards. Later printings are noted on the copyright page. True first is the 1968 Four Seasons Foundation issue. The trade form is the pictorial softcover; a small signed cloth-backed limited of 50 copies appeared at the same time. The Delacorte/Delta issue of 1969 is a reprint. None; Delta/Delacorte are reprints.
• The Pill versus the Springhill Mine Disaster — 1968 · Four Seasons FoundationFirst edition published by Four Seasons Foundation, San Francisco, 1968, as 'Writing 20' in their Writing series. Trade issue in pictorial wraps; a simultaneous signed limited edition of 50 copies was issued in hardcover. Poetry collection of ninety-eight poems. True first is the 1968 Four Seasons Foundation issue, 'Writing 20', preceding the Delacorte issue of 1969. None.
• Rommel Drives On Deep into Egypt — 1970 · Delacorte PressFirst edition published by Delacorte Press / Seymour Lawrence, New York, first printing dated 1 April 1970, 85 pages, designed by Andrew Hoyem (Grabhorn-Hoyem) and printed in San Francisco. Issued in pictorial paper-covered boards with matching dust jacket (cover photograph of Beverly Allen by Edmund Shea); a Delta trade paperback in illustrated wrappers was published simultaneously, also dated 1 April 1970. True first is the 1970 Delacorte/Seymour Lawrence issue. The hardcover and the Delta wrappers issue were released simultaneously on 1 April 1970. None notable.
• Revenge of the Lawn: Stories 1962-1970 — 1971 · Simon & SchusterFirst edition published by Simon & Schuster, New York, October 1971, with 'First printing' stated on the copyright page, green cloth boards with gilt lettering. The first issue has a green top-edge stain; a later state lacks the green topstain. The first-issue jacket carries the printed price on the front flap. Sixty-two stories; the only story collection published in Brautigan's lifetime. True first is the 1971 Simon & Schuster hardcover with the stated first printing and the green-stained top edge. A simultaneous Touchstone trade paperback was also issued in 1971. A distinct blind-stamped Simon & Schuster book club edition for this title is not confirmed in the sources consulted, so no specific book club point is asserted here.
• The Abortion: An Historical Romance 1966 — 1971 · Simon & SchusterFirst edition published by Simon & Schuster, New York, March 1971, with 'First printing' stated on the copyright page, 226 pages, cover photography by Edmund Shea. Issued simultaneously in a hardcover (printed cloth boards with photo-illustrated dust jacket) and in printed photo-illustrated wrappers. Brautigan's first trade hardcover from a major house. True first is the 1971 Simon & Schuster edition. The collectible form is the stated-first-printing hardcover in the priced first-issue jacket; the simultaneous softcover wrappers issue is also a 1971 first. A Simon & Schuster book club edition exists, distinguished by the usual lack of a printed jacket price and a blind-stamp impression on the rear board.
• The Hawkline Monster: A Gothic Western — 1974 · Simon & SchusterFirst printing identified by the number line on the copyright page; pictorial dust jacket with color front illustration by Wendell Minor and a rear-panel author photograph by John Fryer. The original jacket carries a printed price on the front flap (do not rely on a specific figure to identify the first; an unclipped, period-appropriate price is the point). True first is the 1974 Simon & Schuster hardcover. A later book-club edition exists; it is typically blind-stamped on the rear board and has no printed price on the jacket flap.
• Willard and His Bowling Trophies: A Perverse Mystery — 1975 · Simon & SchusterFirst printing is identified by the complete number line on the copyright page, running down to 1, consistent with Simon & Schuster's practice at the time; a stated later printing or a missing low number rules out the first. The book is bound in brown cloth with copper-colored (gilt) spine lettering. The unclipped first-state dust jacket carries the original printed price on the front flap and typically shows an…. True first is the 1975 Simon & Schuster hardcover, New York. Book-club editions lack the printed jacket price and are usually identified by a blind-stamp (small blind-embossed square or dot) on the rear board; the trade first carries the priced jacket and the complete number line.
• Sombrero Fallout: A Japanese Novel — 1976 · Simon & SchusterSimon & Schuster (New York) hardcover, 1976 (ISBN 0-671-22331-3). The edition is not word-stated; the first printing is identified by the number line on the copyright page. During this period (mid-1973 to 1980) Simon & Schuster set the row in interlaced order with the lowest number at the left, so a first printing shows the '1' present and leading (the odd-then-even '1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2' form); later printings…. The true first is the 1976 Simon & Schuster hardcover (first printing 1 September 1976). The UK edition followed from Jonathan Cape in 1977. The book-club edition is typically blind-stamped on the rear board and issued with a jacket bearing no printed price; it also lacks the leading '1' of the trade first's number line.
• Dreaming of Babylon: A Private Eye Novel 1942 — 1977 · Delacorte Press / Seymour LawrenceFirst printing identified by the number line on the copyright page; bound in black cloth (cloth-backed boards) with gilt spine lettering, lavender top-stain and lavender endpapers and pastedowns. Issued in the original unclipped dust jacket designed by Craig Nelson, which should retain its printed front-flap price; note that some first-printing copies carry a remainder mark. True first is the 1977 Delacorte Press / Seymour Lawrence hardcover. A later book-club edition exists; it is typically blind-stamped with no printed jacket price.
• June 30th, June 30th — 1978 · Delacorte Press / Seymour LawrenceIssued simultaneously in wrappers (the primary trade format, quarter-cloth-style decorative wrappers) and in a smaller cloth issue produced largely for libraries; first printing identified by the number line on the copyright page. His final poetry collection published in his lifetime. True first is the 1978 Delacorte Press / Seymour Lawrence edition. None notable.
• The Tokyo-Montana Express — 1980 · Delacorte Press / Seymour LawrenceFirst printing so stated, with the number line present on the copyright page. Bound in quarter blue cloth over cream paper-covered boards, gilt titling to the spine and a train motif stamped in gilt on the front board; 258 pages. Original first-issue dust jacket unclipped, retaining its printed front-flap price. True first trade edition is the 1980 Delacorte Press / Seymour Lawrence hardcover. A separate signed, limited edition containing only twenty of the pieces was issued earlier by Targ Editions (1979) in an edition of 350 signed copies; that is a distinct prior book, not a limited issue of the 1980 Delacorte first. None notable.
• So the Wind Won't Blow It All Away — 1982 · Delacorte Press / Seymour LawrenceFirst printing so stated on the copyright page with the descending number line ending in 1, in the priced dust jacket (cover photograph by Roger Ressmeyer). This was the last novel Brautigan published in his lifetime. True first is the 1982 Delacorte Press / Seymour Lawrence edition. None notable.
• An Unfortunate Woman: A Journey — 2000 · St. Martin's PressFirst English-language edition, first printing: a black-cloth octavo lettered in silver, roughly 170 pages, issued in a dust jacket with the printed price present to the flap; the copyright-page number line ends in 1. Brautigan's tenth and final novel, written in 1982 and published posthumously. The work first appeared not in English but in French translation, as 'Cahier d'un Retour de Troie,' published by Christian Bourgois in 1994, six years before any English-language printing. The true first in English is the 2000 St. Martin's Press edition, published in tandem with Ianthe Brautigan's memoir You Can't Catch Death. None notable for the English first; be aware the 1994 French Bourgois translation is the overall first appearance of the text in print.

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