# Is "Riding the Earthboy 40" by James Welch a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Riding the Earthboy 40 by James Welch (The World Publishing Company, 1971) is identified by: The first printing states "First printing" on the copyright page — World Publishing's practice was to state either "First Edition" or "First Printing" on the copyright page of firsts (Quill & Brush; ILAB), and multiple independent dealers (Alexanderplatz Books, Grendel Books, River Break Books, Peter Keisogloff Rare Books, Compass Rose, Town's End) describe 1971 copies as stated first printings. US-only true first: The World Publishing Company, New York, 1971 — Welch's first book.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The first printing states "First printing" on the copyright page — World Publishing's practice was to state either "First Edition" or "First Printing" on the copyright page of firsts (Quill & Brush
- ILAB), and multiple independent dealers (Alexanderplatz Books, Grendel Books, River Break Books, Peter Keisogloff Rare Books, Compass Rose, Town's End) describe 1971 copies as stated first printings
- Physical points: slim octavo, 54 pp
- (collated [10], 3–54, [2]); textured faux-leather boards with gilt spine lettering — dealers describe the board color variously as orange, red, or maroon, so allow for that range; glossy pictorial jacket designed by Milton Charles, with the price present at the front flap on unclipped copies
- Bubbling to the pastedowns is reported by dealers as a production fault of the binding, not damage; remainder marks to the bottom edge or rear endpapers are common and do not affect first-printing status
- An uncorrected proof in wrappers (described as mustard) is recorded
- Publisher imprint reads The World Publishing Company

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | James Welch |
| Publisher | The World Publishing Company |
| Year | 1971 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The first printing states "First printing" on the copyright page — World Publishing's practice was to state either "First Edition" or… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The first printing states "First printing" on the copyright page — World Publishing's practice was to state either "First Edition" or "First Printing" on the copyright page of firsts (Quill & Brush; ILAB), and multiple independent dealers (Alexanderplatz Books, Grendel Books, River Break Books, Peter Keisogloff Rare Books, Compass Rose, Town's End) describe 1971 copies as stated first printings. Physical points: slim octavo, 54 pp. (collated [10], 3–54, [2]); textured faux-leather boards with gilt spine lettering — dealers describe the board color variously as orange, red, or maroon, so allow for that range; glossy pictorial jacket designed by Milton Charles, with the price present at the front flap on unclipped copies. Bubbling to the pastedowns is reported by dealers as a production fault of the binding, not damage; remainder marks to the bottom edge or rear endpapers are common and do not affect first-printing status. An uncorrected proof in wrappers (described as mustard) is recorded. No first-state text errors are documented.

## Is this the true first?
US-only true first: The World Publishing Company, New York, 1971 — Welch's first book. Scarce for a documented reason: dealers consistently report that World folded as the book was being introduced and the edition was never properly distributed. The trap on this title is the Harper & Row edition (New York; dated 1975 or 1976 in dealer listings, most commonly 1976), which is a REVISED AND EXPANDED edition adding seven new poems — a "first thus," not the first, though many sellers list it simply as "First Edition"; a simultaneous Harper paperback of the revised text exists. Later Carnegie Mellon/Confluence (1997) and Penguin Poets (2004) issues reprint the revised text and are reprints.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue is documented for the World 1971 edition — the printing barely reached the trade. The reprint to watch for is the Harper & Row revised and expanded edition, which is a different text, not a club copy. Remainder-marked World copies are still first printings.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Riding the Earthboy 40* by James Welch a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/riding-the-earthboy-40
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.