# Is "The Insect Societies" by E. O. Wilson a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Insect Societies by E. O. Wilson (Belknap Press / Harvard University Press, 1971) is identified by: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, first printing 1971, with no later-printing statement on the copyright page. US true first (Belknap Press / Harvard University Press, 1971); Wilson's first major synthesis of the social insects.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, first printing 1971, with no later-printing statement on the copyright page
- Bound in cloth over boards (recorded as mustard-yellow/tan cloth with brown lettering to the spine) in a sepia pictorial dust jacket with white lettering to the front panel, which should retain its printed price
- A large quarto of roughly 548 pages with more than 250 illustrations
- Publisher imprint reads Belknap Press / Harvard University Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | E. O. Wilson |
| Publisher | Belknap Press / Harvard University Press |
| Year | 1971 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, first printing 1971, with no later-printing statement on the… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, first printing 1971, with no later-printing statement on the copyright page. Bound in cloth over boards (recorded as mustard-yellow/tan cloth with brown lettering to the spine) in a sepia pictorial dust jacket with white lettering to the front panel, which should retain its printed price. A large quarto of roughly 548 pages with more than 250 illustrations.

## Is this the true first?
US true first (Belknap Press / Harvard University Press, 1971); Wilson's first major synthesis of the social insects.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition; a first is confirmed by the 1971 Belknap Press imprint with a clean copyright page and the sepia pictorial priced jacket.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Insect Societies* by E. O. Wilson a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-insect-societies
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.