# Is "Pieces of the Frame" by John McPhee a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Pieces of the Frame by John McPhee (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1975) is identified by: Farrar, Straus and Giroux first edition, 1975, with the first printing stated on the copyright page and no later-printing indicators. US true first (FSG); McPhee published exclusively with FSG, so there is no competing US or UK edition of precedence.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Farrar, Straus and Giroux first edition, 1975, with the first printing stated on the copyright page and no later-printing indicators
- The essay collection is bound in blue cloth boards with silver spine lettering and has a light green topstain, 308 pages
- The color pictorial dust jacket was designed by Jacqueline Schuman; a first-issue jacket should carry the original printed price on the flap (price-clipped copies simply have the flap corner removed)
- Ahearn reference APG 012
- Publisher imprint reads Farrar, Straus and Giroux
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | John McPhee |
| Publisher | Farrar, Straus and Giroux |
| Year | 1975 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Farrar, Straus and Giroux first edition, 1975, with the first printing stated on the copyright page and no later-printing indicators |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Farrar, Straus and Giroux first edition, 1975, with the first printing stated on the copyright page and no later-printing indicators. The essay collection is bound in blue cloth boards with silver spine lettering and has a light green topstain, 308 pages. The color pictorial dust jacket was designed by Jacqueline Schuman; a first-issue jacket should carry the original printed price on the flap (price-clipped copies simply have the flap corner removed). Ahearn reference APG 012.

## Is this the true first?
US true first (FSG); McPhee published exclusively with FSG, so there is no competing US or UK edition of precedence.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No known book-club edition; confirm the first-printing statement on the copyright page and the FSG pictorial jacket.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Pieces of the Frame* by John McPhee a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/pieces-of-the-frame
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.