# Is "The Prairie Traveler" by Randolph B. Marcy a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Prairie Traveler by Randolph B. Marcy (Harper & Brothers, published by authority of the War Department, 1859) is identified by: New York: Harper & Brothers, 1859, published by authority of the War Department, collating xiv, 340 pages, with a woodcut frontispiece, text illustrations, and a folding map (about 11 by 9 inches) titled "Sketch of the Different Roads Embraced in the Itineraries" at the rear.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- New York: Harper & Brothers, 1859, published by authority of the War Department, collating xiv, 340 pages, with a woodcut frontispiece, text illustrations, and a folding map (about 11 by 9 inches) titled "Sketch of the Different Roads Embraced in the Itineraries" at the rear
- First-edition copies are bound in the publisher's blind-stamped cloth with the spine lettered in gilt
- Marcy, a career army officer who had explored the Red River country and escorted surveys and emigrant parties across the Southern Plains toward New Mexico (he blazed the 1849 Fort Smith-to-Santa-Fe route later known as the Marcy Trail), compiled this handbook of practical advice, equipment lists, and route itineraries that became the standard overland-trail guide of its era
- Publisher imprint reads Harper & Brothers, published by authority of the War Department
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Randolph B. Marcy |
| Publisher | Harper & Brothers, published by authority of the War Department |
| Year | 1859 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | New York: Harper & Brothers, 1859, published by authority of the War Department, collating xiv, 340 pages, with a woodcut frontispiece… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1859, published by authority of the War Department, collating xiv, 340 pages, with a woodcut frontispiece, text illustrations, and a folding map (about 11 by 9 inches) titled "Sketch of the Different Roads Embraced in the Itineraries" at the rear. First-edition copies are bound in the publisher's blind-stamped cloth with the spine lettered in gilt. Marcy, a career army officer who had explored the Red River country and escorted surveys and emigrant parties across the Southern Plains toward New Mexico (he blazed the 1849 Fort Smith-to-Santa-Fe route later known as the Marcy Trail), compiled this handbook of practical advice, equipment lists, and route itineraries that became the standard overland-trail guide of its era.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
A London edition (Trübner & Co., 1863), edited with an added introduction and notes by explorer Sir Richard F. Burton, followed the American original by four years and is a later edition, not the 1859 Harper first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Prairie Traveler* by Randolph B. Marcy a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-prairie-traveler
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.