# Is "Who Owns the West?" by William Kittredge a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Who Owns the West? by William Kittredge (Mercury House, 1996) is identified by: Mercury House, San Francisco, first printing dated 1996, issued as a trade paperback original in pictorial printed wrappers (there was no hardcover). True first US edition, a collection of three essays.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Mercury House, San Francisco, first printing dated 1996, issued as a trade paperback original in pictorial printed wrappers (there was no hardcover)
- Collects three essays: 'Heaven on Earth,' 'Lost Cowboys and Other Westerners,' and 'Departures.' Roughly 176 pages; the first printing carries the Mercury House imprint and 1996 copyright with no later-printing statement
- Publisher imprint reads Mercury House
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | William Kittredge |
| Publisher | Mercury House |
| Year | 1996 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Mercury House, San Francisco, first printing dated 1996, issued as a trade paperback… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Mercury House, San Francisco, first printing dated 1996, issued as a trade paperback original in pictorial printed wrappers (there was no hardcover). Collects three essays: 'Heaven on Earth,' 'Lost Cowboys and Other Westerners,' and 'Departures.' Roughly 176 pages; the first printing carries the Mercury House imprint and 1996 copyright with no later-printing statement.

## Is this the true first?
True first US edition, a collection of three essays. Because it was issued as a paperback original there is no hardcover first; a fine copy is one in clean pictorial printed wrappers.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition. Later printings would carry a printing statement on the copyright page absent from the true first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Who Owns the West?* by William Kittredge a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/who-owns-the-west
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.