# Is "The Practice of the Wild" by Gary Snyder a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Practice of the Wild by Gary Snyder (North Point Press, 1990) is identified by: North Point Press first printing, San Francisco, 1990. True first US edition; the cloth in jacket is the collected hardcover form of the simultaneous North Point issue.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- North Point Press first printing, San Francisco, 1990
- Issued simultaneously in maroon cloth with gilt spine lettering in a dust jacket (retaining the printed jacket price) and in dark purple glossy wrappers; the two share the 1990 North Point setting
- Nine essays, 190 pages
- The clothbound issue carries ISBN 0-86547-453-2 and the wrappers issue 0-86547-454-0
- Correct publisher/imprint: North Point Press

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Gary Snyder |
| Publisher | North Point Press |
| Year | 1990 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Comic / graphic novel |
| Key point | North Point Press first printing, San Francisco, 1990 |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
North Point Press first printing, San Francisco, 1990. Issued simultaneously in maroon cloth with gilt spine lettering in a dust jacket (retaining the printed jacket price) and in dark purple glossy wrappers; the two share the 1990 North Point setting. Nine essays, 190 pages. The clothbound issue carries ISBN 0-86547-453-2 and the wrappers issue 0-86547-454-0.

## Is this the true first?
True first US edition; the cloth in jacket is the collected hardcover form of the simultaneous North Point issue.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book club edition; the North Point cloth in jacket is the collected first. Later Farrar, Straus/North Point softcover printings (sixth printing and beyond) are reprints, not the first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Practice of the Wild* by Gary Snyder a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-practice-of-the-wild
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.