# Is "Mother Country: Britain, the Welfare State and Nuclear Pollution" by Marilynne Robinson a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Mother Country: Britain, the Welfare State and Nuclear Pollution by Marilynne Robinson (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1989) is identified by: First printing is the Farrar, Straus and Giroux edition stating "First Edition" on the copyright page with a number line including the numeral 1. Both the US Farrar, Straus and Giroux edition and the UK Faber and Faber edition appeared in 1989.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing is the Farrar, Straus and Giroux edition stating "First Edition" on the copyright page with a number line including the numeral 1
- The dust jacket carries the original printed price
- Robinson's first work of nonfiction
- Publisher imprint reads Farrar, Straus and Giroux
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Marilynne Robinson |
| Publisher | Farrar, Straus and Giroux |
| Year | 1989 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printing is the Farrar, Straus and Giroux edition stating "First Edition" on the copyright page with a number line including the… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First printing is the Farrar, Straus and Giroux edition stating "First Edition" on the copyright page with a number line including the numeral 1. The dust jacket carries the original printed price. Robinson's first work of nonfiction.

## Is this the true first?
Both the US Farrar, Straus and Giroux edition and the UK Faber and Faber edition appeared in 1989. Precedence between the two could not be established from reliable sources, so neither should be asserted as the definitive true first; the FSG edition is the US first. A National Book Award finalist in nonfiction.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club concern. Later printings indicate a higher printing.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Mother Country: Britain, the Welfare State and Nuclear Pollution* by Marilynne Robinson a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/mother-country-britain-the-welfare-state-and-nuclear-polluti
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.