# Is "The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge" by Carlos Castaneda a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge by Carlos Castaneda (University of California Press, 1968) is identified by: First edition: University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1968, copyright The Regents of the University of California, bound in publisher's medium to dark grey cloth lettered in gilt on the spine, green endpapers, octavo, collating [xii], 196 pp. University of California Press, Berkeley, 1968 is the true first and the census claim is confirmed — a rare instance of a modern high spot first published by a university press, issued while Castaneda was still a graduate student, in a small run (one dealer estimates 750-1,250 copies, an estimate rather than confirmed data).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition: University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1968, copyright The Regents of the University of California, bound in publisher's medium to dark grey cloth lettered in gilt on the spine, green endpapers, octavo, collating [xii], 196 pp
- The first printing carries no printing statement on the copyright page — there is no number line on this academic-press issue, and reports of a "1" in a number line are not supported by the dealer record
- Caution is required because a second printing also appeared in 1968 (a third followed in 1971); later printings are so designated, so the identification is the absence of any printing designation together with the 1968 title page
- Bauman Rare Books reports a first-state jacket distinguished by the absence of a quotation from Don Juan on the front panel; this point is carried by a single dealer in the sources consulted and should be treated as reported rather than established
- First-issue jackets carry a printed price at the flap
- Publisher imprint reads University of California Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Carlos Castaneda |
| Publisher | University of California Press |
| Year | 1968 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition: University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1968, copyright The Regents of the University of California, bound… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition: University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1968, copyright The Regents of the University of California, bound in publisher's medium to dark grey cloth lettered in gilt on the spine, green endpapers, octavo, collating [xii], 196 pp. The first printing carries no printing statement on the copyright page — there is no number line on this academic-press issue, and reports of a "1" in a number line are not supported by the dealer record. Caution is required because a second printing also appeared in 1968 (a third followed in 1971); later printings are so designated, so the identification is the absence of any printing designation together with the 1968 title page. Bauman Rare Books reports a first-state jacket distinguished by the absence of a quotation from Don Juan on the front panel; this point is carried by a single dealer in the sources consulted and should be treated as reported rather than established. First-issue jackets carry a printed price at the flap.

## Is this the true first?
University of California Press, Berkeley, 1968 is the true first and the census claim is confirmed — a rare instance of a modern high spot first published by a university press, issued while Castaneda was still a graduate student, in a small run (one dealer estimates 750-1,250 copies, an estimate rather than confirmed data). US only; no UK or original-language edition competes. The Simon & Schuster hardcover of 1973 is the principal trap and is regularly mis-offered as a first; it is a later printing of the text, not the first edition.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue is documented for the 1968 University of California Press printing. The reprint field is crowded: a second 1968 printing and a third in 1971 from the same press, the Simon & Schuster 1973 hardcover, and the mass-market paperback reprints all follow. Any copy bearing a printing designation, or a Simon & Schuster or paperback imprint, is not the first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge* by Carlos Castaneda a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-teachings-of-don-juan-a-yaqui-way-of-knowledge
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.