# Is "Eleven Poems" by Seamus Heaney a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Eleven Poems by Seamus Heaney (Festival Publications, Queen's University, Belfast, 1965) 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. 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.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- 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
- Publisher imprint reads Festival Publications, Queen's University, Belfast
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Seamus Heaney |
| Publisher | Festival Publications, Queen's University, Belfast |
| Year | 1965 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | Heaney's first book: a stapled pamphlet in white self-wrappers lettered in black, issued for the 1965 Queen's University Belfast Festival… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## 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.

## 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.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Eleven Poems* by Seamus Heaney a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/eleven-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.