# Is "Fighting Terms" by Thom Gunn a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Fighting Terms by Thom Gunn (Fantasy Press, Oxford, 1954) is identified by: First edition, Fantasy Press, Oxford, 1954; 44 pp., twenty-five poems — Gunn's first substantial book and the first hardcover title issued by the Fantasy Press. UK is the true first: Fantasy Press, Oxford, 1954.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, Fantasy Press, Oxford, 1954
- 44 pp., twenty-five poems — Gunn's first substantial book and the first hardcover title issued by the Fantasy Press
- Bound in yellow cloth, lettered and ruled in red on the upper board; issued without a dust jacket, so no jacket points apply
- The first and second states together comprise only 305 copies and are separable by a single textual point: in the first state the opening line of 'Tamer and Hawk' (p
- 38) lacks the final 't' of 'thought', reading 'though'; the second state adds the 't'
- Dealers cite the point as Hagstrom & Bixby A2
- Publisher imprint reads Fantasy Press, Oxford

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Thom Gunn |
| Publisher | Fantasy Press, Oxford |
| Year | 1954 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | First edition, Fantasy Press, Oxford, 1954 |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition, Fantasy Press, Oxford, 1954; 44 pp., twenty-five poems — Gunn's first substantial book and the first hardcover title issued by the Fantasy Press. Bound in yellow cloth, lettered and ruled in red on the upper board; issued without a dust jacket, so no jacket points apply. The first and second states together comprise only 305 copies and are separable by a single textual point: in the first state the opening line of 'Tamer and Hawk' (p. 38) lacks the final 't' of 'thought', reading 'though'; the second state adds the 't'. Dealers cite the point as Hagstrom & Bixby A2.

## Is this the true first?
UK is the true first: Fantasy Press, Oxford, 1954. The first American edition — Hawk's Well Press, New York, 1958, issued in self-wrappers — is extensively revised from the 1954 text and is a 'first thus', not a first edition of the work; a further revised Faber edition followed (London, 1962). Both the 1954 Oxford printing (for priority) and the 1958 New York printing (as the first appearance of the revised text) are collected, and one dealer distinguishes states within the 1958 American edition as well.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue documented. Because no jacket was issued, jacket-based tells do not apply. The common trap is the revised 1958 Hawk's Well Press wrappers issue, or the 1962 Faber edition, offered as a 'first edition' of Fighting Terms — both are later, revised texts. A copy reading 'thought' on p. 38 is the second state of the first edition, not a reprint.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Fighting Terms* by Thom Gunn a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/fighting-terms
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.