# Is "Field Work" by Seamus Heaney a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Field Work by Seamus Heaney (Faber and Faber, 1979) is identified by: Faber and Faber first edition, 'first published in 1979' so stated on the copyright page, with no later printing line. UK Faber is the true first; the US Farrar, Straus and Giroux edition followed in 1979.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Faber and Faber first edition, 'first published in 1979' so stated on the copyright page, with no later printing line
- Issued simultaneously in cloth boards with a priced dust jacket and in stiff card wrappers; the casebound copy in jacket is the collector's first
- Contains the Glanmore Sonnets and the Lowell elegy
- Catalogued Brandes and Durkan A20a (boards) and A20b (wrappers)
- Publisher imprint reads Faber and Faber
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Seamus Heaney |
| Publisher | Faber and Faber |
| Year | 1979 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | Faber and Faber first edition, 'first published in 1979' so stated on the copyright page, with no later printing line |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Faber and Faber first edition, 'first published in 1979' so stated on the copyright page, with no later printing line. Issued simultaneously in cloth boards with a priced dust jacket and in stiff card wrappers; the casebound copy in jacket is the collector's first. Contains the Glanmore Sonnets and the Lowell elegy. Catalogued Brandes and Durkan A20a (boards) and A20b (wrappers).

## Is this the true first?
UK Faber is the true first; the US Farrar, Straus and Giroux edition followed in 1979. For a true first, seek the Faber casebound copy in jacket.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition. Later Faber printings add a printing statement; the wrappered issue is a simultaneous form, not a later state.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Field Work* by Seamus Heaney a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/field-work
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.