# Is "On Human Nature" by Edward O. Wilson a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of On Human Nature by Edward O. Wilson (Harvard University Press, 1978) is identified by: Harvard University Press (Cambridge, Massachusetts) first edition, first printing, 1978, in octavo. US Harvard University Press (Cambridge) 1978 is the true first edition, first printing.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Harvard University Press (Cambridge, Massachusetts) first edition, first printing, 1978, in octavo
- Bound in brown cloth with gilt lettering on the spine, with decorated endpapers and pastedowns
- The copyright page carries no statement of a later or additional printing; later printings add a printing statement, so a clean copyright page is the key first-printing point
- The first-state dust jacket should retain its printed price on the front flap
- Publisher imprint reads Harvard University Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Edward O. Wilson |
| Publisher | Harvard University Press |
| Year | 1978 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Harvard University Press (Cambridge, Massachusetts) first edition, first printing, 1978, in octavo |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Harvard University Press (Cambridge, Massachusetts) first edition, first printing, 1978, in octavo. Bound in brown cloth with gilt lettering on the spine, with decorated endpapers and pastedowns. The copyright page carries no statement of a later or additional printing; later printings add a printing statement, so a clean copyright page is the key first-printing point. The first-state dust jacket should retain its printed price on the front flap.

## Is this the true first?
US Harvard University Press (Cambridge) 1978 is the true first edition, first printing. The work won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1979. Confirm a first printing by the absence of any later-printing statement on the copyright page.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings add a printing statement to the copyright page; verify it is clean. A revised edition with a new preface followed decades later (2004) and is a distinct, later text, not the first edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *On Human Nature* by Edward O. Wilson a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/on-human-nature
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.