Ted Hughes First Editions

• The Hawk in the Rain — 1957 · Faber and FaberHughes's first book, the winner of the inaugural New York Poetry Center First Publication competition (judges W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender, Marianne Moore). Faber and Faber (London) first edition, first impression, September 1957: 'first published in mcmlvii' on the copyright page, in a dust jacket with its printed price. The US Harper & Brothers edition (1957) is the first American edition. The Faber edition (1957) is the true first; the Harper & Brothers edition (1957) is the first American (the contest was American, but Faber published first). No book club. The US Harper issue is told by its imprint and dust-jacket price. Note that the second Faber impression carries a the printed price jacket, so a first impression should show the printed price (not the printed price).
• Lupercal — 1960 · Faber & Faber, LondonFirst edition, first impression: octavo (216 x 137mm), pp. 63 + [1 blank], printed by the Bowering Press for Faber; original violet cloth (described variously by dealers as violet, purple or maroon) lettered in gilt at the spine, in Berthold Wolpe's typographic dust wrapper printed on green laid paper. The wrapper should be unclipped with the price present at the flap. Published 18 March 1960 in 2,250 copies;…. Faber & Faber (London), 18 March 1960 is the true first, confirming the census claim; Hughes received author's copies on 23 February 1960, ahead of publication. The Harper & Brothers (New York) 1960 issue is the first American — 750 copies, Sagar & Tabor A3.a.2, in purple cloth — and follows the Faber. Both are collected. The American issue is identified by "Harper" stamped on the spine and by page 5 being numbered. No book-club edition documented. The one firmly documented reprint tell is on the American side: the second impression of the Harper & Brothers issue leaves page 5 unnumbered, where the first impression has it numbered.
• Wodwo — 1967 · Faber and Faber, LondonFirst edition, first impression, Faber and Faber, London, 1967. 8vo, in three parts — poems, five short stories and a radio play. Bound in a red cloth spine lettered in gilt with grey/sage printed cloth sides, in dust jacket; the jacket should be present and priced (price present at the flap). Faber practice fixes the impression: before 1968 the year on the copyright page is set in Roman numerals, so the first…. UK is the true first: Faber and Faber, London, 1967. The first American edition — Harper & Row, New York, 1967 — followed within the same year and is bound quite differently: half blue cloth over brown paper boards, silver decoration to the front board and silver lettering to the spine, collating [6], 7-184, [8] pp. Imprint and binding are the quickest separators. The census note giving a May 1967 UK date could…. No book-club issue documented. The common trap is the Harper & Row 1967 American edition offered as 'the 1967 first edition' — same year, but later. Faber's own later impressions are identified by the added impression statement on the copyright page; the Roman-numeral 'mcmlxvii' alone does not prove a first impression if a reprint line is also present.
• The Iron Man — 1968 · Faber & FaberFirst edition, first impression: London, Faber and Faber, 1968, published 26 February 1968, with drawings by George Adamson. Faber firsts of this period state 'First published in [year]' on the copyright page and note subsequent printings ('Second impression' and so on); no number line was used at this date, so the test is the first-publication line together with the absence of any impression statement. Faber was…. UK Faber and Faber (London), 26 February 1968 is the true first. The first American edition is Harper & Row, New York, 23 October 1968, retitled 'The Iron Giant' — the title and the internal references to the metal man were altered to avoid confusion with the Marvel Comics character, and it was newly illustrated by Robert Nadler rather than Adamson. Both are collected: the Faber as the true first, the Harper as…. No book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted. Later Faber impressions retain the 1968 first-publication line and add an impression statement — that added line is the tell. Beware 'first thus' offerings of the later Faber reissue illustrated by Andrew Davidson and the 2010 Walker Books/Faber edition illustrated by Laura Carlin; these are new illustrated editions, not first printings. Note a live….
• Crow — 1970 · Faber & FaberUK Faber first edition, first printing, 1970: black cloth lettered in gilt, in the pictorial dust jacket designed by Leonard Baskin, jacket with its printed price and unclipped. The first printing carries the original (shorter) contents with no reprint statement. The 1972 reprint adds seven poems, so the 1970 first is identified by the original contents and the absence of any reprint or added-poem indication. The UK Faber edition (1970) is the true first. The American Harper edition (1971) follows. The 1972 enlarged reprint, which adds seven poems, and the later signed limited edition are separate. No book club edition. The principal confusion is the enlarged 1972 reprint, distinguished by the seven added poems and its reprint statement.
• Crow: From the Life and Songs of the Crow — 1970 · Faber and FaberFaber and Faber (London) first edition, 'first published in 1970' so stated; black cloth lettered in gilt to the spine, in a cream dust jacket bearing a Leonard Baskin illustration printed in brick-red and black. The enlarged second edition (1972) adds seven poems; distinguish by contents and the title-page/copyright statement. The Faber edition (1970) is the UK true first; the US Harper & Row edition follows. Note the 1970 first versus the enlarged 1972 second edition, which adds seven poems. No book-club edition. The crux is the 1970 first versus the enlarged 1972 second edition, and Faber UK versus Harper US precedence.
• Birthday Letters — 1998 · Faber and FaberFaber and Faber first edition, London 1998, an octavo in publisher's blue quarter cloth over blue paper boards, the spine lettered in gilt on a black ground, issued in a pictorial dust jacket reproducing a painting by the poet's daughter Frieda Hughes. First printing is identified by the copyright-page 'first published in 1998' statement together with Faber's descending number line ending in '1'. The jacket…. Faber UK (1998) is the true first trade edition; the Farrar, Straus and Giroux US edition (1998) is the first American. A signed limited edition preceded the trade issue and is the premium state. The collection of eighty-eight poems, addressed almost entirely to Sylvia Plath, appeared months before Hughes's death in 1998, making inscribed copies uncommon. Not a book-club title. Confirm the Faber copyright-page statement and descending number line ending in '1' for the UK first, and distinguish it from the FSG US first by imprint; the FSG jacket and copyright page differ.

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