# Is "The Deer Pasture" by Rick Bass a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Deer Pasture by Rick Bass (Texas A&M University Press, 1985) is identified by: Texas A&M University Press (College Station), first edition, cloth, dated 1985; seventeen essays with forty-one drawings by Elizabeth Hughes. True first US edition and Rick Bass's first book (essays on the family's Texas Hill Country deer lease).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Texas A&M University Press (College Station), first edition, cloth, dated 1985; seventeen essays with forty-one drawings by Elizabeth Hughes
- Bass's first book
- Publisher imprint reads Texas A&M University Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Rick Bass |
| Publisher | Texas A&M University Press |
| Year | 1985 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Texas A&M University Press (College Station), first edition, cloth, dated 1985; seventeen… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Texas A&M University Press (College Station), first edition, cloth, dated 1985; seventeen essays with forty-one drawings by Elizabeth Hughes. Bass's first book.

## Is this the true first?
True first US edition and Rick Bass's first book (essays on the family's Texas Hill Country deer lease).

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition; issued in a small university-press print run.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Deer Pasture* by Rick Bass a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-deer-pasture
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.