# Is "Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge" by E. O. Wilson a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge by E. O. Wilson (Alfred A. Knopf, 1998) is identified by: First edition, New York: Alfred A. US true first (Alfred A.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998
- The copyright page carries the words 'First Edition' together with the running-borzoi (Borzoi) colophon, and the printer's key descends to the terminal 1
- The trade first is bound in quarter black cloth over blue-green paper-covered boards, with silver lettering to the spine
- The dust jacket should retain its printed price on the front flap (present, not clipped, on a jacket that has not been price-clipped)
- Collation runs to roughly 332 pages of text
- Publisher imprint reads Alfred A. Knopf
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | E. O. Wilson |
| Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf |
| Year | 1998 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998 |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First edition, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998. The copyright page carries the words 'First Edition' together with the running-borzoi (Borzoi) colophon, and the printer's key descends to the terminal 1. The trade first is bound in quarter black cloth over blue-green paper-covered boards, with silver lettering to the spine. The dust jacket should retain its printed price on the front flap (present, not clipped, on a jacket that has not been price-clipped). Collation runs to roughly 332 pages of text.

## Is this the true first?
US true first (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1998); this is the first appearance of the work in book form.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No prominent book-club edition competes for identification; confirm the Knopf trade first by the stated 'First Edition', the Borzoi colophon, the number line descending to 1, and the quarter-black-cloth binding over blue-green boards.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge* by E. O. Wilson a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/consilience-the-unity-of-knowledge
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.