16 Rick Bass first editions are documented on this shelf, from The Deer Pasture (1985) to The Lives of Rocks (2006) across 8 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Rick Bass 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 Rick Bass copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- The Deer Pasture — 1985 · Texas A&M University PressTexas A&M University Press (College Station), first edition, dated 1985; octavo of 123 pages bound in rust-colored cloth-covered boards with title lettering stamped in white and black on the spine (ISBN 9780890962282). Seventeen essays illustrated with forty-one original drawings by Bass's wife, Elizabeth Hughes. Bass's first book, issued in the Wardlaw Books series. True first US edition and Rick Bass's first book (essays on the family's Texas Hill Country deer lease). No book-club edition; issued in a small university-press print run, and first-edition jackets are frequently found price-clipped.
- Wild to the Heart — 1987 · Stackpole BooksStackpole Books (Harrisburg, PA), first edition, first printing, dated 1987 (ISBN 0-8117-1876-X), with a full number line descending to 1 on the copyright page. Hardcover of 141 pages with drawings by Elizabeth Hughes, issued in a pictorial dust jacket that on the first state should retain its printed front-flap price and is not price-clipped. True first US edition; Bass's second book, a collection of essays. The later W. W. Norton paperback (1990, ISBN 0-393-30626-2) is a reprint, not the first edition. No major book-club edition concern; identify the first by the Stackpole imprint, 1987 date, and full number line.
- Oil Notes — 1989 · Houghton Mifflin / Seymour LawrenceBoston: Houghton Mifflin / Seymour Lawrence, 1989. First American edition, first printing of this memoir/journal, with drawings by Elizabeth Hughes, octavo, 172 pp; issued in cloth-backed boards with a dust jacket that should retain the printed price to the front flap. The US Houghton Mifflin/Seymour Lawrence edition of 1989 is the American first. A UK edition was published the same year by Collins (London); the American issue is the first in its own market. No major book-club edition concern; verify the Houghton Mifflin/Seymour Lawrence imprint and the retained jacket price to distinguish the American first from the simultaneous UK Collins issue and from the trade paperback.
- The Watch: Stories — 1989 · W.W. NortonW.W. Norton (New York), 1989, stated first edition with the Norton full number line and no statement of a later printing; half teal cloth over dark blue boards with silver spine lettering, 190 pages, in dust jacket. True first US edition; Bass's first collection of short fiction. No major book-club edition concern.
- Winter: Notes from Montana — 1991 · Houghton Mifflin / Seymour LawrenceHoughton Mifflin/Seymour Lawrence (Boston) first printing, 1991, an octavo of 162 pages with black-and-white drawings by Elizabeth Hughes. Bound in quarter white cloth over grey paper boards with orange lettering on the front board and spine; issued in a dust jacket that should retain its printed price on the front flap. A first edition of this title is the first printing unless the copyright page states otherwise. True first US edition, published by Houghton Mifflin (February 1991). No major book-club edition concern; the common later survival is the trade paperback reissue, distinguished from the cloth-backed 1991 hardcover by binding and imprint.
- The Ninemile Wolves — 1992 · Clark City PressClark City Press (Livingston, Montana) first edition, 1992, illustrated by Russell Chatham; the trade issue is a hardcover in dust jacket. ISBN 0944439489. Subtitled An Essay. The signed limited issue is bound with a maroon cloth spine over brown boards, gilt-stamped on cover and spine, and housed in a matching maroon slipcase. True first US edition; the Clark City Press first precedes the later Ballantine trade paperback. No book-club edition. Two first-edition states exist: the standard trade hardcover in dust jacket, and a signed limited edition numbered of 125 copies issued in a slipcase (without jacket). Do not confuse either with the later Ballantine paperback reprint.
- Platte River — 1994 · Houghton Mifflin / Seymour LawrenceFirst edition, first printing (Houghton Mifflin / Seymour Lawrence, Boston, 1994), identified by the descending number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. Issued in a pictorial dust jacket carrying a photograph of the author to the rear panel, with the printed price present to the flap on an unclipped copy. A collection of three novellas (Mahatma Joe; Field Events; Platte River); ISBN 0395680808. An…. True first US edition; a collection of three novellas and the author's second book of stories. No major book-club edition concern; confirm the first by the number line ending in 1 and the author-photo rear jacket panel. Later Houghton Mifflin printings carry a number line no longer terminating in 1.
- In the Loyal Mountains — 1995 · Houghton MifflinHoughton Mifflin (Boston) first printing, 1995; issued in dust jacket. Story collection (ten stories). ISBN 039571687X. True first US edition; story collection. No major book-club edition concern.
- The Book of Yaak — 1996 · Houghton MifflinHoughton Mifflin (Boston) first printing, 1996; ISBN 0395770149. Collection of essays on Montana's Yaak Valley, 190 pages. Bound in quarter deep wine cloth over wine paper-covered boards with gilt titling to the spine and front panel. The pictorial dust jacket carries cover art by Russell Chatham; a first-state jacket retains the original printed price on the front flap (unclipped) and is not price-clipped.…. True first US edition; essay collection. No prior or precedent edition. No major book-club edition concern for this title.
- The Sky, the Stars, the Wilderness — 1997 · Houghton MifflinHoughton Mifflin first printing with full number line and no additional printings stated; dated 1997; issued in cloth with dust jacket. Contains three novellas: 'The Myths of Bears,' 'Where the Sea Used to Be,' and the title work 'The Sky, the Stars, the Wilderness.'. True first US edition of the three-novella collection. No book-club edition concern noted for the first printing.
- Fiber — 1998 · University of Georgia PressUniversity of Georgia Press first printing; dated 1998; issued as a slim quarter-cloth hardcover with dust jacket, illustrated by Elizabeth Hughes Bass. A separate signed, hand-numbered limited edition of 200 copies also exists. True first separate US edition (the text first appeared as a short story in the anthology 'Off the Beaten Path'; this is its first stand-alone publication). No book-club edition concern. Distinguish the standard trade hardcover from the signed limited edition of 200 copies.
- Where the Sea Used to Be — 1998 · Houghton MifflinHoughton Mifflin first printing (ISBN 0-395-77015-7) with a full number line and no additional printings stated; dated 1998; issued in cloth-backed boards with dust jacket showing the printed price on the front flap. Bass's first full-length novel. First US edition of the expanded full-length novel (Houghton Mifflin, 1998). Note that a shorter novella of the same title appeared first within the collection 'The Sky, the Stars, the Wilderness' in 1997; the 1998 book is the first separate and expanded novel form. No book-club edition concern noted for the first printing.
- Brown Dog of the Yaak: Essays on Art and Activism — 1999 · Milkweed EditionsMilkweed Editions first printing with full number line; dated 1999; issued in cloth (brown/cinnamon cloth with black lettering and the author's facsimile signature stamped on spine and front cover), without a dust jacket as issued. Launch title of Milkweed's Credo series. True first US edition, first printing. No book-club edition concern; issued in cloth without a dust jacket as issued.
- Colter: The True Story of the Best Dog I Ever Had — 2000 · Houghton MifflinHoughton Mifflin first printing, 2000 (ISBN 0-395-92618-1), identified by a full number line descending to 1 on the copyright page with no additional printings stated; issued in cloth-backed boards with a priced dust jacket. Memoir of the author's German shorthaired pointer. True first US edition (memoir), Houghton Mifflin, 2000. No book-club edition is a concern for the first printing; the later Mariner/Houghton Mifflin trade paperback (2001, ISBN 0-618-12736-4) is a reprint, not the first edition.
- The Hermit's Story — 2002 · Houghton MifflinHoughton Mifflin, Boston, 2002, first printing with the number line intact and no additional printings stated; issued in cloth-backed boards with a dust jacket illustrated by Russell Chatham, the printed price present on the jacket flap. Short story collection. True first US edition (stories), Houghton Mifflin, 2002; first printing of the first US edition. No book-club edition concern noted for the first printing; confirm the Chatham jacket illustration and a priced, unclipped flap.
- The Lives of Rocks — 2006 · Houghton MifflinHoughton Mifflin (Boston) hardcover first edition, 2006, with the full number line present and ending in 1; issued in dust jacket. Collection of ten stories (ISBN 0-618-59674-7). True first US edition of this story collection. No book-club edition concern for the first printing.
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