12 Terry Tempest Williams first editions are documented on this shelf, from Pieces of White Shell: A Journey to Navajoland (1984) to When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on Voice (2012) across 7 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Terry Tempest Williams 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 Terry Tempest Williams copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- Pieces of White Shell: A Journey to Navajoland — 1984 · Charles Scribner's SonsScribner's first-printing tell of the period: letter 'A' present at the base of the copyright-page number sequence; New York imprint dated 1984; illustrated by Clifford Brycelea. Issued in half beige cloth over sea-green paper boards with a dust jacket. True first US edition and Williams's first adult book. Look for the Scribner 'A' at the foot of the copyright page. Confirm the Scribner 'A' to distinguish the true first from later printings. The later University of New Mexico Press edition (ISBN 0826309693) is a reprint, not a first.
- The Secret Language of Snow — 1984 · Sierra Club / PantheonFirst edition, 1984, a Sierra Club Books / Pantheon Books co-publication (New York), illustrated by Jennifer Dewey and written with Ted Major. Issued in hardcover, roughly 129 pages; a trade issue (ISBN 0-394-96574-4) and a library binding (ISBN 0-394-86574-X) both appear. The first-state pictorial dust jacket should retain its printed price and is not price-clipped. Williams's book-length debut, co-authored with her Teton Science School mentor Ted Major and recipient of a National Science Foundation Book Award; published the same year as Pieces of White Shell (Scribner, 1984). Identify the first by the 1984 Sierra Club/Pantheon imprint before the later printings (2nd, 4th, etc.). No book-club-edition concern; watch for stated later printings on the copyright page, which are the common tell.
- Between Cattails — 1985 · Charles Scribner's SonsScribner's first printing, New York imprint dated 1985; children's picture book with drawings by Peter Parnall. First-printing tell is the letter 'A' at the base of the copyright-page number sequence. True first US edition; a children's title illustrated by Peter Parnall. No significant book-club edition concern. Confirm the Scribner 'A' on the copyright page.
- Coyote's Canyon — 1989 · Peregrine Smith Books / Gibbs SmithPeregrine Smith Books (Gibbs Smith) first printing, Salt Lake City, dated 1989, with photographs by John Telford; a collaboration gathering the stories 'The Coyote Clan,' 'Lion Eyes,' 'The Bowl,' 'Buried Poems,' 'Kokopelli's Return,' 'Perfect Kiva,' 'A Woman's Dance,' and 'The Stone Spiral.' The true first was issued in pictorial wrappers (softcover), not a jacketed hardcover. True first US edition, a collaboration with photographer John Telford, issued in wrappers by Peregrine Smith / Gibbs Smith. No book-club edition concern. The original issue is in wrappers, so there is no dust jacket to look for on the first; copies signed by both Williams and Telford exist.
- Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place — 1991 · Pantheon Books'First Edition' stated on the copyright page together with a number line ending in 1, under the Pantheon imprint. Issued in quarter green cloth over tan boards with gilt spine lettering. Dust jacket carries the printed price on the flap. The US Pantheon 1991 edition is the true first; Williams's memoir set against the rising Great Salt Lake. Identify the first printing by the stated 'First Edition' with the number line ending in 1 and the priced first-issue jacket. Distinguished from later printings and the subsequent Vintage paperback by the stated 'First Edition' with the number line ending in 1 and the priced hardcover jacket.
- An Unspoken Hunger: Stories from the Field — 1994 · PantheonPantheon Books, New York, 1994; 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page with a full number line descending to 1. Bound in paper-covered boards with a cloth spine, 143 pages, and issued with a pictorial dust jacket whose printed price should be present on the front flap. ISBN 0679432442 / 9780679432449. True first US edition (Pantheon hardcover, 1994); the Vintage Books paperback (ISBN 0679752560 / 9780679752561) is a later reprint, not the first. No significant book-club edition concern.
- Desert Quartet: An Erotic Landscape — 1995 · PantheonPantheon Books, New York, first printing with the number line descending to 1 on the copyright page; dated 1995 (ISBN 0679439998), published 26 September 1995. A small square sextodecimo volume, quarter-bound in tan linen over natural brown paper-covered boards, with a bronze title stamp to the spine and a bronze vignette stamped to the front board. Illuminated throughout with drawings and paintings by Mary…. True first US edition, with drawings and paintings by Mary Frank. No significant book-club edition concern; later printings show a number line no longer reaching 1.
- Leap — 2000 · PantheonPantheon Books, New York, 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page with a full number line descending to 1; dated 2000; hardcover in orange paper-covered boards, issued with a dust jacket. True first US edition. No significant book-club edition concern.
- Red: Passion and Patience in the Desert — 2001 · PantheonPantheon states 'First Edition' on the copyright page with a complete number line ending in 1; dated 2001, ISBN 9780375420771. Issued in a hardbound binding with dust jacket whose printed price should be present on the front flap. Collects desert essays, poems, congressional testimony, and journal entries. True first US edition of this collection of desert essays, poems, congressional testimony, and journal entries. No book-club edition concern for the first; the stated 'First Edition' with the full number line reaching 1 confirms the first printing.
- The Open Space of Democracy — 2004 · Orion SocietyOrion Society first printing, issued as a slim softcover in wrappers; Great Barrington, Massachusetts; dated 2004, ISBN 0-913098-63-9. Illustrated with work by Mary Frank. Being a wrappered original, identification rests on the Orion Society imprint and the 2004 date rather than on a dust jacket or number line. True first is the Orion Society softcover of 2004. The later Wipf and Stock edition (ISBN 978-1-60899-208-9) is a reissue and states that the work was previously published by the Orion Society in 2004, so it is not the first. No book-club concern; issued in wrappers.
- Mosaic: Finding Beauty in a Broken World — 2008 · PantheonPantheon states 'First Edition' with a complete number line ending in 1; the book is titled 'Finding Beauty in a Broken World' as printed on the title page and dated 2008. Bound in quarter rust-red cloth over blue paper boards with the title stamped in gilt on the spine, issued in a printed-price dust jacket. True first US edition, Pantheon 2008. No book-club edition concern for the first; confirm the 'First Edition' statement, the complete number line ending in 1, and the intact printed price on the jacket.
- When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on Voice — 2012 · Sarah Crichton Books / Farrar, Straus and GirouxSarah Crichton Books, an imprint of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York; first printing with a complete number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. Dated 2012 (ISBN 9780374288976), published April 2012. Hardbound with dust jacket; the first-state jacket retains its printed price on the front flap. True first US edition; published April 2012. No book-club edition concern for the first; later printings show a shortened number line.
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