# Is "Ishi in Two Worlds" by Theodora Kroeber a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Ishi in Two Worlds by Theodora Kroeber (University of California Press, 1961) is identified by: First printing: University of California Press, Berkeley (and Los Angeles), 1961; subtitled "A Biography of the Last Wild Indian in North America," with a foreword by Lewis Gannett. Census claim confirmed.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing: University of California Press, Berkeley (and Los Angeles), 1961; subtitled "A Biography of the Last Wild Indian in North America," with a foreword by Lewis Gannett
- The decisive point is NEGATIVE and this title is a notorious trap: UC Press retained the 1961 title-page date across dozens of printings and stated each subsequent printing on the copyright page — recorded examples read "Second Printing, November, 1961" and "Fifteenth Printing, 1973." A first printing is therefore a copy whose copyright page carries the 1961 Regents of the University of California copyright and NO printing line at all
- Dealers routinely and correctly list later copies as "1961 First Edition, 23rd Printing" or "Printing 30"; the 1961 date alone proves nothing
- The binding (tan/beige/cream cloth lettered and decorated in brick red, with repeating Yahi-motif endpapers) is constant across early printings and is NOT a printing point
- On a jacketed copy an unclipped jacket with the price present at the flap is consistent with an early issue but does not by itself establish the first printing
- No first-state text errors are documented in the sources consulted
- Publisher imprint reads University of California Press

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Theodora Kroeber |
| Publisher | University of California Press |
| Year | 1961 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printing: University of California Press, Berkeley (and Los Angeles), 1961; subtitled "A Biography of the Last Wild Indian in North… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First printing: University of California Press, Berkeley (and Los Angeles), 1961; subtitled "A Biography of the Last Wild Indian in North America," with a foreword by Lewis Gannett. The decisive point is NEGATIVE and this title is a notorious trap: UC Press retained the 1961 title-page date across dozens of printings and stated each subsequent printing on the copyright page — recorded examples read "Second Printing, November, 1961" and "Fifteenth Printing, 1973." A first printing is therefore a copy whose copyright page carries the 1961 Regents of the University of California copyright and NO printing line at all. Dealers routinely and correctly list later copies as "1961 First Edition, 23rd Printing" or "Printing 30"; the 1961 date alone proves nothing. The binding (tan/beige/cream cloth lettered and decorated in brick red, with repeating Yahi-motif endpapers) is constant across early printings and is NOT a printing point. On a jacketed copy an unclipped jacket with the price present at the flap is consistent with an early issue but does not by itself establish the first printing. No first-state text errors are documented in the sources consulted.

## Is this the true first?
Census claim confirmed. US university-press first; University of California Press, 1961 — Berkeley and Los Angeles on the original imprint. No separately set British first is documented in the sources consulted; UC Press's own later printings add a London line to the imprint, which is the Press's British office address, not a distinct UK edition. Distinct work, not an edition of this book: Kroeber's 1964 children's retelling "Ishi, Last of His Tribe" (Parnassus Press, illustrated by Ruth Robbins) — a different book, frequently conflated with this one in listings.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue documented. Reprint tells: any printing line on the copyright page; the presence of an ISBN (0-520-00675-5), which postdates the 1961 first and so rules it out on sight; and the paperback and 50th Anniversary Edition (2011, with added material by Karl Kroeber) — "first thus" or later at best.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Ishi in Two Worlds* by Theodora Kroeber a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/ishi-in-two-worlds
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.