# Is "Autumn Journal" by Louis MacNeice a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Autumn Journal by Louis MacNeice (Faber & Faber, London, 1939) is identified by: True first: Faber & Faber, London, May 1939. UK first: Faber & Faber, London, May 1939.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first: Faber & Faber, London, May 1939
- Octavo in publisher's russet-brown cloth lettered in gilt on the spine, in a brown dust jacket lettered in cream; a two-page author's note precedes the twenty-four sections
- The first impression's copyright page carries the 1939 first-published line only, with no added impression statement — later Faber impressions state theirs, and a 1945 Faber issue was reset as 'Autumn Journal, a poem'
- Jackets should be unclipped with the price present at the flap
- Reference: Connolly, The Modern Movement, 85
- Publisher imprint reads Faber & Faber, London
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Louis MacNeice |
| Publisher | Faber & Faber, London |
| Year | 1939 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | True first: Faber & Faber, London, May 1939 |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
True first: Faber & Faber, London, May 1939. Octavo in publisher's russet-brown cloth lettered in gilt on the spine, in a brown dust jacket lettered in cream; a two-page author's note precedes the twenty-four sections. The first impression's copyright page carries the 1939 first-published line only, with no added impression statement — later Faber impressions state theirs, and a 1945 Faber issue was reset as 'Autumn Journal, a poem'. Jackets should be unclipped with the price present at the flap. Reference: Connolly, The Modern Movement, 85.

## Is this the true first?
UK first: Faber & Faber, London, May 1939. The census note dating the American edition to 1940 is wrong — Random House, New York, published the first American edition in 1939, and ABAA/ABA dealers describe it as printed from the English sheets (96 pp, same setting of type, with a Random House title leaf), not a resetting. Faber therefore holds precedence; the Random House issue is collected as the American first and is identified by its New York imprint on the title leaf.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition is documented. Reprint tells are the stated later Faber impressions (a 1940 impression; a 1945 issue titled 'Autumn Journal, a poem'; a 1946 limited Faber issue), all of which carry impression or date lines the 1939 first lacks. The Faber Library hardback (1996), the Faber Poetry paperback (1998) and the 2013 reissue are 'first thus'.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Autumn Journal* by Louis MacNeice a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/autumn-journal
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.