# Is "Ariel" by Sylvia Plath a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Ariel by Sylvia Plath (Faber and Faber, 1965) is identified by: Faber first (Tabor A5a), published 11 March 1965 in an impression of about 3,100 copies; dust jacket designed by Berthold Wolpe. The Faber (London) 1965 edition is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Faber first (Tabor A5a), published 11 March 1965 in an impression of about 3,100 copies; dust jacket designed by Berthold Wolpe
- The 1965 date stands alone with no 'first published' qualifier beyond it; later Faber impressions are identified by added impression statements on the copyright page
- This is the volume Ted Hughes assembled from Plath's papers, and the Faber setting carries no editorial foreword
- Publisher imprint reads Faber and Faber
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Sylvia Plath |
| Publisher | Faber and Faber |
| Year | 1965 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | Faber first (Tabor A5a), published 11 March 1965 in an impression of about 3,100 copies; dust jacket designed by Berthold Wolpe |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Faber first (Tabor A5a), published 11 March 1965 in an impression of about 3,100 copies; dust jacket designed by Berthold Wolpe. The 1965 date stands alone with no 'first published' qualifier beyond it; later Faber impressions are identified by added impression statements on the copyright page. This is the volume Ted Hughes assembled from Plath's papers, and the Faber setting carries no editorial foreword.

## Is this the true first?
The Faber (London) 1965 edition is the true first. The first US edition is Harper & Row, New York, 1966, which adds an introduction by Robert Lowell (absent from the UK first) and prints three poems not present in the UK Faber edition; the first US printing is identified by the 'D-Q' code on the copyright page. Both editions follow Ted Hughes's reordering and selection; neither matches Plath's intended manuscript, later published as 'Ariel: The Restored Edition' (Faber / HarperCollins, 2004, foreword by Frieda Hughes) — a 'first thus,' not the true first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No significant book-club edition. Tell the UK true first from the US first by the introduction (Robert Lowell's, US only) and the imprint: UK Faber 1965 versus Harper & Row 1966 (US first-printing copyright page coded 'D-Q,' priced jacket present at the flap). Later printings of either carry impression statements.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Ariel* by Sylvia Plath a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/ariel
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.