Ursula K. Le Guin First Editions

• Planet of Exile — 1966 · AceAce Double paperback original, catalog number G-597, bound tete-beche with 'Mankind Under the Leash' by Thomas M. Disch. Cover the printed price. This is the only printing pairing the two novels and the true first book publication of each. US Ace paperback original is the true first edition. No book club edition.
• Rocannon's World — 1966 · AceAce Double G-574 paperback original, bound dos-a-dos with 'The Kar-Chee Reign' by Avram Davidson; the printed price cover price; cover art by Jack Gaughan and Gerald McConnell. Le Guin's first novel, expanded from the story 'Dowry of the Angyar' (Amazing, Sept 1964). US Ace Double paperback original is the true first. No book club edition; this is a paperback original.
• City of Illusions — 1967 · AceAce single-novel paperback original, catalog number G-626, 1967, with its printed price on the cover, with cover art by Jack Gaughan; small octavo in pictorial wrappers, with no statement of printing on the copyright page. The G-626 designation on the cover is the key first-issue point: a later Ace issue carries the catalog number 10701 instead of G-626. The first hardcover (Victor Gollancz) did not appear until 1971. US Ace paperback original (G-626) is the true first edition. No book-club edition of the paperback original; the later Ace 10701 issue does not precede the G-626 first.
• A Wizard of Earthsea — 1968 · Parnassus PressFirst edition, first printing: Parnassus Press, Berkeley, 1968, drawings by Ruth Robbins (who also designed the jacket). The decisive first-printing point — documented by L.W. Currey — is a faint vertical ink smudge running the full height of the TITLE PAGE (generally through the 'r'/'d' of 'Wizard' down toward the 'P'/'s' of 'Press'). Copies WITHOUT this smudge are later printings; the second printing adds a…. US Parnassus Press 1968 is the true world first (a small press; modest print run). The first UK edition is Gollancz, 1971. The Parnassus first is far scarcer than the Gollancz. A trade issue and a simultaneous library issue exist (the library issue has a variant binding with reinforced hinges and rear-cover text); they share the same jacket and there is no established priority between them — both are first…. Later Parnassus printings (no title-page smudge, linen backing), the later Atheneum printings, and the UK Gollancz edition are all later than the Parnassus first. An Atheneum or Gollancz imprint is decisive for a later edition — but among Parnassus-imprint copies, it is the title-page smudge, not the imprint alone, that separates a true first printing from a later Parnassus printing.
• The Left Hand of Darkness — 1969 · Ace BooksPaperback original, Ace Science Fiction Special (series edited by Terry Carr), Ace catalogue number 47800, with wraparound cover art by Leo and Diane Dillon (who supplied the art for the Ace Specials line). A first printing shows 'An Ace Science Fiction Special' with the 47800 number and printed cover price on the front cover, NO Hugo/Nebula award announcement anywhere on the cover or wrapper, and NO stated…. The Ace mass-market PAPERBACK is the true first edition and precedes the Walker & Company hardcover (US, 1969) — documented by L.W. Currey (246), who records that the hardcover was preceded the same year by the Ace paperback; the UK hardcover editions are later still. Because it was a paperback original, fine first-printing copies are scarce. The novel won the 1969 Nebula and 1970 Hugo, but a genuine first…. Later Ace printings add award mentions to the cover, a stated later printing on the copyright page, and a raised price. The Walker hardcover — and any book-club hardcover issue — is later than the Ace paperback original.
• The Lathe of Heaven — 1971 · Charles Scribner's SonsFirst edition, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1971. The first printing carries the Scribner 'A' point on the copyright page (the code 'A-10.71 [C]') together with the Scribner seal, the standard Scribner first-printing identifier of this period. Bound in green boards with blue cloth backstrip and gilt spine lettering; price-clipped jackets weaken a copy. The US Scribner edition is the true first. The UK Gollancz edition followed in 1972. The Scribner 'A' code plus seal is the key US identifier for first printings of this era. Book-club editions lack the Scribner 'A' code and seal and have no flap price; Science Fiction Book Club copies are common. The novel was previously serialized in Amazing Stories, which does not affect the book first.
• The Tombs of Atuan — 1971 · AtheneumThe US Atheneum first carries 'Atheneum 1971 New York' on the title page and a publisher's date-cancel label mounted over the printed copyright statement; illustrated by Gail Garraty; first-issue jacket priced and unclipped with no later silver award sticker. Earthsea Book 2. The US Atheneum (1971) is the true first; the UK Gollancz (1972) is the UK first. The reliable points are the title-page imprint, the date-cancel copyright label, and the first-state priced jacket — not a printed 'First Edition' slug. Weekly Reader and other juvenile book-club editions lack the title-page imprint and date-cancel label, use pictorial laminated boards rather than a jacket, and omit the price.
• The Farthest Shore — 1972 · AtheneumThe US Atheneum first is identified by Currey's first-issue binding — black cloth in which the pictorial stamping is NOT identical to the dust jacket (the second issue matches the jacket) — illustrated by Gail Garraty, with the first-state priced, unclipped jacket. Earthsea Book 3. Won the 1973 National Book Award (Children's Books). The US Atheneum (1972) is the true first; the UK Gollancz (1973) is the UK first. Identify by the Currey first-issue binding state and the first-state priced jacket rather than any printed 'First Edition' statement. Weekly Reader and juvenile book-club editions use pictorial laminated boards instead of a dust jacket and omit the price; they do not match the trade binding/jacket states of the Atheneum first.
• The Dispossessed — 1974 · Harper & RowFirst printing has 'FIRST EDITION' stated on the copyright page, and the number line beginning at 1 is printed on the last page of the text (later printings begin 2, 3, and so on). Octavo in cloth-backed boards; the first-issue dust jacket retains its printed front-flap price. US Harper & Row, published May 1974, is the true first, preceding the UK Gollancz edition later in 1974. Hugo and Nebula winner. Originally issued as The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia. SFBC: 'Book Club Edition' on the flap, no printed price, blind-stamped dot on the rear board, cheaper paper.
• The Wind's Twelve Quarters — 1975 · Harper & RowHarper & Row first edition with 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page accompanied by a complete descending number line including the numeral 1 (Harper & Row's mid-1970s practice placed the number line on the copyright page). Priced dust jacket. US Harper & Row first edition is the true first. Book club edition is distinguished by a blind stamp on the rear board and a jacket lacking a printed price; the book-club copyright page typically lacks the complete first-printing number line.
• Wild Angels — 1975 · Capra PressCapra Press first edition, Santa Barbara, issued as number 27 in the Capra Chapbook Series. Le Guin's first book of poetry. Issued in printed wrappers, plus a signed and numbered hardbound limited issue of 200 copies hand-bound by Emily Paine. US Capra Press first edition is the true first. No book club edition.
• Orsinian Tales — 1976 · Harper & RowFirst printing has a complete number line reading 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (ending in 1) on the copyright page, in a price-clipped-or-not priced dust jacket designed by Muriel Nasser. A collection of linked short stories. US Harper & Row hardcover is the true first edition. Book club editions lack the number line and the printed jacket price and may carry a blind stamp to the rear board.
• The Word for World Is Forest — 1976 · Berkley/PutnamBerkley/Putnam first separate hardcover edition, 1976, with priced dust jacket. The text first appeared earlier in the anthology 'Again, Dangerous Visions' (1972), which precedes this first stand-alone hardcover. US Berkley/Putnam edition is the true first separate hardcover; the 1972 anthology appearance precedes it as the first publication of the text. Book club edition is distinguished by a blind stamp on the rear board and a jacket lacking a printed price.
• Very Far Away from Anywhere Else — 1976 · AtheneumAtheneum first edition, 1976, with 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page. A short young-adult novel of 89 pages, issued in hardcover with a priced dust jacket. Published in the UK by Gollancz the same year under the retitle A Very Long Way from Anywhere Else. The US Atheneum edition is the true first; the UK Gollancz edition also appeared in 1976, with the Atheneum generally treated as preceding it. The book club edition is distinguished by a blind stamp on the rear board and a dust jacket lacking a printed price on the front flap.
• The Beginning Place — 1980 · Harper & RowUS Harper & Row hardcover, 1980, 183 pp. The first printing has the complete number line ending in 1 (10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1) on the copyright page, in a priced dust jacket with cover art by Griesbach/Martucci. Published in the UK under the alternate title Threshold. The US Harper & Row hardcover is the true first edition; the UK edition (Gollancz, retitled Threshold) is a later, separate printing. Book club editions lack the terminal-1 number line and the printed jacket price, and are typically on thinner boards with blindstamped/gutter-code tells; the Harper & Row trade first shows the full number line to 1 and a priced Griesbach/Martucci jacket.
• The Compass Rose — 1982 · Underwood-MillerTrue first is the Underwood-Miller (Pendragon Press) edition: a clothbound issue limited to 550 numbered copies signed by Le Guin, with a bound-in limitation page and Thomas Canty artwork, issued mid-1982 (ISBN 0-934438-60-9). The Harper & Row trade hardcover, with a number line ending in 1 on the copyright page in a priced jacket, followed in July 1982. A collection of twenty short stories. The Underwood-Miller signed/numbered limited edition preceded the Harper & Row trade edition by roughly a month, so the limited issue is the true first; the Harper & Row trade is the first trade edition, not the overall first. Book club editions of the trade text lack the number line and the printed jacket price.
• The Eye of the Heron — 1983 · Harper & RowFirst printing identified by a complete number line ending in 1 on the copyright page, in a priced pictorial dust jacket. First appeared in the anthology Millennial Women (1978); the Harper & Row hardcover is the first separate book edition. US Harper & Row hardcover is the first separate edition. Note a date ambiguity: the copyright page is dated 1982 and many dealers catalogue the book as 1982, while Le Guin's own bibliography gives 1983; both years appear on confirmed first-printing copies. Book club editions lack the number line and the printed jacket price.
• Always Coming Home — 1985 · Harper & RowFirst trade printing has a number line ending in 1 on the copyright page, in a priced dust jacket. A separate boxed/slipcased issue bundling the book with the 'Music and Poetry of the Kesh' audiocassette was also produced and is a distinct collectible state. US Harper & Row first; the boxed slipcased issue with the cassette is a distinct, scarcer collectible issue rather than a later printing. Book club editions lack the number line and the printed jacket price.
• Tehanu — 1990 · Atheneum / Margaret K. McElderry Books, New YorkAtheneum (Margaret K. McElderry Books) hardcover, cloth-backed boards, 226 pages; first printing identified by the 'First Edition' statement together with a full number line ending in 1 on the copyright page; priced dust jacket. The first-edition jacket and title carry the subtitle 'The Last Book of Earthsea.'. The US Atheneum/McElderry 1990 hardcover is the true first edition, identified by the 'First Edition' statement plus a full number line ending in 1. UK editions were issued separately and do not precede it. Book club editions exist; they are typically identified by an unpriced or clipped jacket stating Book Club Edition and lack the trade 'First Edition' statement and number line.
• Tehanu: The Last Book of Earthsea — 1990 · Atheneum / MacmillanThe US Atheneum first printing carries the publisher's first-edition statement with a complete number line ending in 1 and a priced dust jacket. Octavo, cloth-backed boards. Fourth Earthsea book; winner of the Nebula Award for best novel. The US Atheneum/Macmillan edition is the true first; the UK Gollancz edition followed. Book-club printings lack the first-edition statement and number line and carry an unpriced jacket; some show a blind gutter code on the rear board.
• Powers — 2007 · HarcourtHarcourt hardcover, first printing. Copyright page carries a stated First Edition line with a full number line counting down to 1. Priced dust jacket; publisher's boards. Third book of the Annals of the Western Shore. ISBN 978-0-15-205770-1. The US Harcourt 2007 hardcover is the true first edition. (Issued under the Harcourt Children's Books imprint as part of the young-adult Annals of the Western Shore.). A Science Fiction Book Club / book club edition is distinguishable by an unpriced jacket, a blind-stamp gutter dot on the rear board, and the absence of the full Harcourt number line.

More Literary Fiction (US) & Award Winners shelves: various (ed. Hugo Gernsback), V.C. Andrews, Vernor Vinge, Virginia Woolf, Vladimir Nabokov, W. Somerset Maugham.

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