Is My The Practice of the Wild a First Edition?

The points of issue

• North Point Press first printing, San Francisco, 1990
• Issued simultaneously in maroon cloth with gilt spine lettering in a dust jacket (retaining the printed jacket price) and in dark purple glossy wrappers; the two share the 1990 North Point setting
• Nine essays, 190 pages
• The clothbound issue carries ISBN 0-86547-453-2 and the wrappers issue 0-86547-454-0

How North Point Press marked a first edition

• Independent era (first books fall 1980 through ~1991): look for a stated 'First edition' or 'First printing' on the copyright page; many titles also carry a descending number line where the lowest digit present indicates…

Full North Point Press first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Read the indicia — a first-printing single issue carries no later-printing line; a collected edition is “first thus,” not the true first.
4. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

Format & printing

This title first appeared as a single issue / periodical, not a trade book. The true first is the first-printing single issue; later trade paperbacks or hardcover collections are “first thus.” Check the indicia (the small-print publication block) for a printing statement.

Is this the true first?

True first US edition; the cloth in jacket is the collected hardcover form of the simultaneous North Point issue.P-009799

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book club edition; the North Point cloth in jacket is the collected first. Later Farrar, Straus/North Point softcover printings (sixth printing and beyond) are reprints, not the first.P-009800

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Practice of the Wild a first edition?

A first edition of The Practice of the Wild by Gary Snyder (North Point Press) is identified by: North Point Press first printing, San Francisco, 1990.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. For a single issue, the indicia shows the printing. True first US edition; the cloth in jacket is the collected hardcover form of the simultaneous North Point issue.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

No book club edition; the North Point cloth in jacket is the collected first. Later Farrar, Straus/North Point softcover printings (sixth printing and beyond) are reprints, not the first.

I have a first edition of The Practice of the Wild — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.