# Is "A Vision" by W.B. Yeats a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Vision by W.B. Yeats (T. Werner Laurie, 1925) is identified by: Werner Laurie (London), 1925, 'privately printed for subscribers only,' limited to 600 copies numbered and signed by Yeats, and usually found with the publisher's slip; bound in paper/parchment-backed boards with a printed spine label and a plain dust jacket, with decorations by Edmund Dulac. Distinct-edition trap: the Macmillan (London) 1937 'A Vision' — with the Macmillan (New York) issue following in 1938 — is a wholly rewritten and reset text, a separate edition rather than a reprint.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first is T. Werner Laurie (London), 1925, 'privately printed for subscribers only,' limited to 600 copies numbered and signed by Yeats, and usually found with the publisher's slip; bound in paper/parchment-backed boards with a printed spine label and a plain dust jacket, with decorations by Edmund Dulac
- The title-page is dated 1925 although the book was actually issued in January 1926
- Full title: 'A Vision: An Explanation of Life Founded upon the Writings of Giraldus and Upon Certain Doctrines attributed to Kusta ben Luka.'
- Publisher imprint reads T. Werner Laurie
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | W.B. Yeats |
| Publisher | T. Werner Laurie |
| Year | 1925 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first is T. Werner Laurie (London), 1925, 'privately printed for subscribers only,' limited to 600 copies numbered and signed by… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The true first is T. Werner Laurie (London), 1925, 'privately printed for subscribers only,' limited to 600 copies numbered and signed by Yeats, and usually found with the publisher's slip; bound in paper/parchment-backed boards with a printed spine label and a plain dust jacket, with decorations by Edmund Dulac. The title-page is dated 1925 although the book was actually issued in January 1926. Full title: 'A Vision: An Explanation of Life Founded upon the Writings of Giraldus and Upon Certain Doctrines attributed to Kusta ben Luka.'

## Is this the true first?
Distinct-edition trap: the Macmillan (London) 1937 'A Vision' — with the Macmillan (New York) issue following in 1938 — is a wholly rewritten and reset text, a separate edition rather than a reprint. The 1925 T. Werner Laurie signed limited is the true first; the 1937 revision is collected in its own right but is not the same book.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition documented. The 1937 Macmillan revision (and 1938 US Macmillan) is a different text, not a later printing of the 1925 edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Vision* by W.B. Yeats a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-vision
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.