# Is "Chicago Poems" by Carl Sandburg a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Chicago Poems by Carl Sandburg (Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1916) is identified by: Title page reads "Chicago Poems | By Carl Sandburg | New York | Henry Holt and Company | 1916." The first printing's copyright page reads "Copyright, 1916, by Henry Holt and Company" followed by the line "Published April, 1916," and carries no later-printing or reprint statement — before 1945 Holt identified its American firsts by that absence rather than by any "first edition" line, so the terminal "Published April, 1916" is the governing test. American origin.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Title page reads "Chicago Poems | By Carl Sandburg | New York | Henry Holt and Company | 1916." The first printing's copyright page reads "Copyright, 1916, by Henry Holt and Company" followed by the line "Published April, 1916," and carries no later-printing or reprint statement — before 1945 Holt identified its American firsts by that absence rather than by any "first edition" line, so the terminal "Published April, 1916" is the governing test
- The first state additionally has publisher's advertisements bound at the rear of the text block with the dating code "(3'16)" at the foot of the first ad page; a later state of the same 1916 sheets carries rear ads without the 3'16 code
- Collation is 183 pp. plus 2 pp. of ads; the binding is dark blue buckram, lettered and decorated in gilt
- The book was issued in a priced jacket with the price present at the spine, and the jacket's rear panel repeats the Holt advertisements dated 3'16
- Publisher imprint reads Henry Holt and Company, New York
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Carl Sandburg |
| Publisher | Henry Holt and Company, New York |
| Year | 1916 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | Title page reads "Chicago Poems | By Carl Sandburg | New York | Henry Holt and Company | 1916." The first printing's copyright page reads… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Title page reads "Chicago Poems | By Carl Sandburg | New York | Henry Holt and Company | 1916." The first printing's copyright page reads "Copyright, 1916, by Henry Holt and Company" followed by the line "Published April, 1916," and carries no later-printing or reprint statement — before 1945 Holt identified its American firsts by that absence rather than by any "first edition" line, so the terminal "Published April, 1916" is the governing test. The first state additionally has publisher's advertisements bound at the rear of the text block with the dating code "(3'16)" at the foot of the first ad page; a later state of the same 1916 sheets carries rear ads without the 3'16 code. Collation is 183 pp. plus 2 pp. of ads; the binding is dark blue buckram, lettered and decorated in gilt. The book was issued in a priced jacket with the price present at the spine, and the jacket's rear panel repeats the Holt advertisements dated 3'16.

## Is this the true first?
American origin. Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1916 is the true first, and no contemporaneous British edition of Chicago Poems is recorded in the dealer and catalogue record consulted, so there is no UK-versus-US precedence question here. The "first thus" traps are all later resettings rather than rival firsts: the collection is reprinted within Sandburg's Complete Poems (1950) and in Dover Thrift and other modern paperback reprints, none of which are editions of the 1916 book.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No 1916 book-club issue is documented for this title. The reprint tells sit on the copyright page and the ad leaf: later Holt printings retain the 1916 title-page date but add a printing or reprint statement, and copies whose copyright page bears a later date (a 1925 copyright-page date is recorded on one offered copy described as an "early printing") are Holt reprints, not the first. Rear ads lacking the "(3'16)" code indicate a later state or printing. Modern reprints (Dover, Applewood, print-on-demand) carry ISBNs and lack the dark blue buckram and gilt entirely.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Chicago Poems* by Carl Sandburg a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/chicago-poems
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.