Is My Be Here Now a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First book edition, first printing: Lama Foundation, San Cristobal, New Mexico, 1971, in the publisher's original purple and white printed wraps, the cover a mandala incorporating the title, a chair, radial lines and the word "Remember" repeated four times
• The first printing has no ISBN, no printing statement on the copyright page, a printed price at the base of the spine, and the Lama Foundation named alone as publisher on the rear cover — this last point is decisive, because the second printing of May 1971 and all subsequent printings (an eighth printing is recorded in November 1972) name Crown Publishers alongside the Lama Foundation
• A scarce cloth-bound issue in sky-blue cloth stamped in gilt is reported by one dealer; treat it as reported rather than established
• Take care with dealer listings giving the place as Albuquerque — San Cristobal is correct

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
4. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
6. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

The census claim that the 1970 boxed "From Bindu to Ojas" is the "true first state" of Be Here Now is CORRECTED: it is not a state of this book but a distinct, earlier publication of the core text under a different title. From Bindu to Ojas (Lama Foundation, San Cristobal, 1970) was issued as a hand-bound box set — brown paper wrappers with a colour mandala label, pages hand rubber-stamped then photo-reduced and printed on rice paper in Japan, accompanied by booklets and an LP with sleeve — and it precedes and is scarcer than the book. Sources conflict on its size: Ram Dass recalled a thousand boxes, while a 1973 radio interview gives 10,000. The 1971 Lama Foundation wraps issue is the true first edition of the book as Be Here Now; ABAA dealers style it "first book edition, first printing." US only — no UK first is at issue.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented. The reprint tells are unusually clean: any copy naming Crown Publishers on the rear cover or carrying an ISBN is a later printing, and printings through the twelfth are recorded (Crown at 419 Park Ave. S., New York). Later Crown and Three Rivers Press (Random House) issues, which have kept the book in print past two million copies, are "first thus."

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Be Here Now a first edition?

A first edition of Be Here Now by Ram Dass (Lama Foundation) is identified by: First book edition, first printing: Lama Foundation, San Cristobal, New Mexico, 1971, in the publisher's original purple and white printed wraps, the cover a mandala incorporating the title, a chair, radial lines and the word "Remember" repeated four times.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. The census claim that the 1970 boxed "From Bindu to Ojas" is the "true first state" of Be Here Now is CORRECTED: it is not a state of this book but a distinct, earlier publication of the core text under a different title.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

No book-club issue is documented. The reprint tells are unusually clean: any copy naming Crown Publishers on the rear cover or carrying an ISBN is a later printing, and printings through the twelfth are recorded (Crown at 419 Park Ave. S., New York). Later Crown and Three Rivers Press (Random House) issues, which have kept the book in print past two million copies, are "first thus."

I have a first edition of Be Here Now — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.