# Is "Plowing the Dark" by Richard Powers a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Plowing the Dark by Richard Powers (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000) is identified by: First printing carries the Farrar, Straus and Giroux convention on the copyright page: the words "First edition" (with the year 2003 on the FSG imprints of this period) together with a complete number line whose presence of the digit 1 marks the first printing; when the printing changes FSG drops the 1. The US Farrar, Straus and Giroux edition (2000) is the true first; no earlier or precedent edition exists elsewhere.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing carries the Farrar, Straus and Giroux convention on the copyright page: the words "First edition" (with the year 2003 on the FSG imprints of this period) together with a complete number line whose presence of the digit 1 marks the first printing; when the printing changes FSG drops the 1
- The unclipped front jacket flap should retain the correct first-printing printed price
- Issued in publisher's cloth-backed boards with a printed dust jacket
- Publisher imprint reads Farrar, Straus and Giroux
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Richard Powers |
| Publisher | Farrar, Straus and Giroux |
| Year | 2000 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printing carries the Farrar, Straus and Giroux convention on the copyright page: the words "First edition" (with the year 2003 on the… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First printing carries the Farrar, Straus and Giroux convention on the copyright page: the words "First edition" (with the year 2003 on the FSG imprints of this period) together with a complete number line whose presence of the digit 1 marks the first printing; when the printing changes FSG drops the 1. The unclipped front jacket flap should retain the correct first-printing printed price. Issued in publisher's cloth-backed boards with a printed dust jacket.

## Is this the true first?
The US Farrar, Straus and Giroux edition (2000) is the true first; no earlier or precedent edition exists elsewhere.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No notable book-club edition of consequence for this title; identify the first strictly by the stated FSG "First edition" line and the complete number line retaining the 1.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Plowing the Dark* by Richard Powers a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/plowing-the-dark
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.