# Is "A Draft of XXX Cantos" by Ezra Pound a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Draft of XXX Cantos by Ezra Pound (Hours Press, 1930) is identified by: True first: Hours Press (Nancy Cunard), Paris, 1930. The Hours Press Paris edition (1930) is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first: Hours Press (Nancy Cunard), Paris, 1930
- The edition comprised 200 copies on ordinary paper plus a small number of special copies (10 on Texas Mountain paper and 2 on vellum)
- Capitals designed by Dorothy Shakespear Pound
- This precedes the first American edition (Farrar & Rinehart, 1933) and the Faber trade edition
- Publisher imprint reads Hours Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Ezra Pound |
| Publisher | Hours Press |
| Year | 1930 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | True first: Hours Press (Nancy Cunard), Paris, 1930 |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
True first: Hours Press (Nancy Cunard), Paris, 1930. The edition comprised 200 copies on ordinary paper plus a small number of special copies (10 on Texas Mountain paper and 2 on vellum). Capitals designed by Dorothy Shakespear Pound. This precedes the first American edition (Farrar & Rinehart, 1933) and the Faber trade edition.

## Is this the true first?
The Hours Press Paris edition (1930) is the true first. The Farrar & Rinehart American edition (1933) and the Faber UK edition are later trade firsts.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book club edition. The trade editions are distinguished by imprint, later date, and the absence of the Hours Press limitation.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Draft of XXX Cantos* by Ezra Pound a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-draft-of-xxx-cantos
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.