# Is "The Deer Pasture" by Rick Bass a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Deer Pasture by Rick Bass (Texas A&M University Press, 1985) is identified by: Texas A&M University Press (College Station), first edition, dated 1985; octavo of 123 pages bound in rust-colored cloth-covered boards with title lettering stamped in white and black on the spine (ISBN 9780890962282). True first US edition and Rick Bass's first book (essays on the family's Texas Hill Country deer lease).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Texas A&M University Press (College Station), first edition, dated 1985; octavo of 123 pages bound in rust-colored cloth-covered boards with title lettering stamped in white and black on the spine (ISBN 9780890962282)
- Seventeen essays illustrated with forty-one original drawings by Bass's wife, Elizabeth Hughes
- Bass's first book, issued in the Wardlaw Books series
- Publisher imprint reads Texas A&M University Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Rick Bass |
| Publisher | Texas A&M University Press |
| Year | 1985 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Texas A&M University Press (College Station), first edition, dated 1985; octavo of 123 pages bound in rust-colored cloth-covered boards… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Texas A&M University Press (College Station), first edition, dated 1985; octavo of 123 pages bound in rust-colored cloth-covered boards with title lettering stamped in white and black on the spine (ISBN 9780890962282). Seventeen essays illustrated with forty-one original drawings by Bass's wife, Elizabeth Hughes. Bass's first book, issued in the Wardlaw Books series.

## Is this the true first?
True first US edition and Rick Bass's first book (essays on the family's Texas Hill Country deer lease).

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition; issued in a small university-press print run, and first-edition jackets are frequently found price-clipped.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Deer Pasture* by Rick Bass a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-deer-pasture
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.