# Is "Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me" by Richard Fariña a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me by Richard Fariña (Random House, 1966) is identified by: The true first is the US Random House edition of 1966 (329 pp.), quarter-bound in green cloth over pale-blue/blue-gray boards, the spine lettered in black, yellow, and white, with a pictorial dust jacket illustrated by Eric Von Schmidt and priced at the front flap. US Random House (1966) is the true first and the only book published in Fariña's lifetime; it precedes the UK edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first is the US Random House edition of 1966 (329 pp.), quarter-bound in green cloth over pale-blue/blue-gray boards, the spine lettered in black, yellow, and white, with a pictorial dust jacket illustrated by Eric Von Schmidt and priced at the front flap
- As a pre-1968 Random House book, the first printing is identified by the absence of any later-printing statement on the copyright page and the absence of a number line (Random House number lines began in the 1970s and — counterintuitively — started at '2' for firsts)
- Correction to the census note: the author's death two days after publication does NOT 'fix a single true printing' — the 1966 Random House hardcover is the true FIRST printing, but the book became a cult classic and was reprinted many times (later hardcover printings and the Penguin paperback)
- Publisher imprint reads Random House
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Richard Fariña |
| Publisher | Random House |
| Year | 1966 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first is the US Random House edition of 1966 (329 pp.), quarter-bound in green cloth over pale-blue/blue-gray boards, the spine… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
The true first is the US Random House edition of 1966 (329 pp.), quarter-bound in green cloth over pale-blue/blue-gray boards, the spine lettered in black, yellow, and white, with a pictorial dust jacket illustrated by Eric Von Schmidt and priced at the front flap. As a pre-1968 Random House book, the first printing is identified by the absence of any later-printing statement on the copyright page and the absence of a number line (Random House number lines began in the 1970s and — counterintuitively — started at '2' for firsts). Correction to the census note: the author's death two days after publication does NOT 'fix a single true printing' — the 1966 Random House hardcover is the true FIRST printing, but the book became a cult classic and was reprinted many times (later hardcover printings and the Penguin paperback).

## Is this the true first?
US Random House (1966) is the true first and the only book published in Fariña's lifetime; it precedes the UK edition. Later Penguin and other paperbacks are reprints, not firsts.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Penguin paperback and subsequent reprints are not firsts; no separate book-club hardcover is documented as matching or preceding the Random House first. The 1966 Random House hardcover in the Eric Von Schmidt pictorial jacket is the collected first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me* by Richard Fariña a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/been-down-so-long-it-looks-like-up-to-me
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.