Is My Eleven Poems a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Heaney's first book: a stapled pamphlet in white self-wrappers lettered in black, issued for the 1965 Queen's University Belfast Festival while Heaney was still at Queen's
• The first issue is printed on laid paper and carries the Festival sun device with nine points, printed in purple, on the upper wrapper — Brandes & Durkan A1(a); the nine-point sun is the reliable first-issue test
• The second issue shows the sun redrawn and slightly larger (described by dealers as ten-pointed, in a darker purple more closely matching the Festival programme)
• The third printing (Brandes & Durkan A1b) drops the sun for the herald-with-drum-and-trumpet device of the 1966 Festival and is in green card wrappers
• Dealers conflict on the second issue's paper (laid vs wove), so paper alone should not be used to separate first from second

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
3. Verify this is the UK true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
5. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

Belfast, 1965 — this pamphlet precedes Death of a Naturalist (Faber, London, 1966) and has no UK trade or American counterpart, so there is no competing edition and the Belfast issue is the unambiguous true first. Only the first issue, with the nine-point sun, is the true first printing; the second issue and the 1966 third printing are the same edition but not the first, and are the standing trap in a "first edition" listing. The census claim is confirmed.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition. The later-issue tells are the printings themselves: second issue with the redrawn, larger purple sun, and the third printing in green card wrappers with the 1966 herald device. Brandes & Durkan record several states of the third printing, varying in dimensions, paper, printer's details on the lower wrapper and even the order of the poems, without assigning priority among them.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Eleven Poems a first edition?

A first edition of Eleven Poems by Seamus Heaney (Festival Publications, Queen's University, Belfast) is identified by: Heaney's first book: a stapled pamphlet in white self-wrappers lettered in black, issued for the 1965 Queen's University Belfast Festival while Heaney was still at Queen's.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. Belfast, 1965 — this pamphlet precedes Death of a Naturalist (Faber, London, 1966) and has no UK trade or American counterpart, so there is no competing edition and the Belfast issue is the unambiguous true first.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

No book-club edition. The later-issue tells are the printings themselves: second issue with the redrawn, larger purple sun, and the third printing in green card wrappers with the 1966 herald device. Brandes & Durkan record several states of the third printing, varying in dimensions, paper, printer's details on the lower wrapper and even the order of the poems, without assigning priority among them.

I have a first edition of Eleven Poems — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.