# Is "A Ballad of Remembrance" by Robert Hayden a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Ballad of Remembrance by Robert Hayden (Paul Breman, London, 1962) is identified by: First edition, Paul Breman, London, 1962 — volume 1 of Breman's Heritage Series of Black Poetry, the series' inaugural publication. UK true first — census precedence claim confirmed.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, Paul Breman, London, 1962 — volume 1 of Breman's Heritage Series of Black Poetry, the series' inaugural publication
- The colophon reads: printed in Holland by nv drukkerij Hooiberg, Epe, in Gill Sans Bold on Basingwerk Parchment, 'in three hundred copies only, numbered' — 1–250 the ordinary edition on white paper, I–XXV the de-luxe edition on tinted paper, and A–Z the copies printed for author and publisher
- Collation 72 pp, 22 cm, issued in pale blue printed wrappers
- Every genuine copy carries a number, so an unnumbered copy is not from this printing; paper stock separates the issues (white = ordinary, tinted = de-luxe)
- This is the first book appearance of 'Those Winter Sundays'
- The Morgan Library transcribes the colophon directly; the limitation, series position and pale blue wrappers are independently corroborated
- Publisher imprint reads Paul Breman, London

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Robert Hayden |
| Publisher | Paul Breman, London |
| Year | 1962 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | First edition, Paul Breman, London, 1962 — volume 1 of Breman's Heritage Series of Black Poetry, the series' inaugural publication |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition, Paul Breman, London, 1962 — volume 1 of Breman's Heritage Series of Black Poetry, the series' inaugural publication. The colophon reads: printed in Holland by nv drukkerij Hooiberg, Epe, in Gill Sans Bold on Basingwerk Parchment, 'in three hundred copies only, numbered' — 1–250 the ordinary edition on white paper, I–XXV the de-luxe edition on tinted paper, and A–Z the copies printed for author and publisher. Collation 72 pp, 22 cm, issued in pale blue printed wrappers. Every genuine copy carries a number, so an unnumbered copy is not from this printing; paper stock separates the issues (white = ordinary, tinted = de-luxe). This is the first book appearance of 'Those Winter Sundays'. The Morgan Library transcribes the colophon directly; the limitation, series position and pale blue wrappers are independently corroborated.

## Is this the true first?
UK true first — census precedence claim confirmed. A Ballad of Remembrance appeared only from Paul Breman in London, with no contemporaneous US edition; a London small press, not a US house, published it. The census's 'mature debut' framing is CORRECTED: this was not Hayden's first book — Heart-Shape in the Dust (Falcon Press, Detroit, 1940) was. The first American appearance of much of this material is Selected Poems (October House, New York, 1966), which is a US collection, not an edition of this book.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue — the entire printing was 300 numbered copies. Distinguish the three issues by numbering and paper alone: ordinary (1–250, white paper), de-luxe (I–XXV, tinted paper), author/publisher presentation (A–Z). The trap is Selected Poems (October House, New York, 1966), a US collection reprinting much of the book that is often mistaken for the first appearance of these poems; later collected editions print Hayden's revised texts rather than the 1962 readings.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Ballad of Remembrance* by Robert Hayden a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-ballad-of-remembrance
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.