# Is "Jaguar Skies" by Michael McClure a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Jaguar Skies by Michael McClure (New Directions, 1975) is identified by: New Directions first edition, New York, 1975, 87 pages. True first is the 1975 New Directions edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- New Directions first edition, New York, 1975, 87 pages
- Issued simultaneously in a clothbound hardcover and in wrappers (New Directions Paperbook, NDP401)
- The hardcover is bound in cream/beige cloth with red-stamped lettering on the spine; the paperback issue is in white-and-black pictorial wraps
- The first printing carries no statement of a later printing
- Publisher imprint reads New Directions
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Michael McClure |
| Publisher | New Directions |
| Year | 1975 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | New Directions first edition, New York, 1975, 87 pages |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
New Directions first edition, New York, 1975, 87 pages. Issued simultaneously in a clothbound hardcover and in wrappers (New Directions Paperbook, NDP401). The hardcover is bound in cream/beige cloth with red-stamped lettering on the spine; the paperback issue is in white-and-black pictorial wraps. The first printing carries no statement of a later printing.

## Is this the true first?
True first is the 1975 New Directions edition. Hardcover and paperback wrappers were published simultaneously; neither has clear precedence, though the hardcover is scarcer.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book club edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Jaguar Skies* by Michael McClure a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/jaguar-skies
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.