# Is "Riprap and Cold Mountain Poems" by Gary Snyder a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Riprap and Cold Mountain Poems by Gary Snyder (Four Seasons Foundation, 1965) is identified by: Four Seasons Foundation (San Francisco/Berkeley), Writing series number 7, edited by Donald Allen; stapled printed wrappers; first-issue points are no price printed on the rear wrapper and no date printed on the title page. First combined edition (first appearance of Riprap together with the Cold Mountain Poems).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Four Seasons Foundation (San Francisco/Berkeley), Writing series number 7, edited by Donald Allen; stapled printed wrappers; first-issue points are no price printed on the rear wrapper and no date printed on the title page
- Adds Snyder's Han-shan 'Cold Mountain' translations to the earlier Riprap text
- Publisher imprint reads Four Seasons Foundation
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Gary Snyder |
| Publisher | Four Seasons Foundation |
| Year | 1965 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Four Seasons Foundation (San Francisco/Berkeley), Writing series number 7, edited by… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Four Seasons Foundation (San Francisco/Berkeley), Writing series number 7, edited by Donald Allen; stapled printed wrappers; first-issue points are no price printed on the rear wrapper and no date printed on the title page. Adds Snyder's Han-shan 'Cold Mountain' translations to the earlier Riprap text.

## Is this the true first?
First combined edition (first appearance of Riprap together with the Cold Mountain Poems). Riprap alone was first published by Origin Press in Japan in 1959; the Cold Mountain translations had previously appeared only in Evergreen Review.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition; distinguish this 1965 combined first from the 1959 Riprap first and from later reprints that add a price or date.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Riprap and Cold Mountain Poems* by Gary Snyder a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/riprap-and-cold-mountain-poems
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.