# Is "For the Union Dead" by Robert Lowell a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of For the Union Dead by Robert Lowell (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1964) is identified by: FSG first edition, with a stated first printing on the copyright page. US true first; the Faber UK edition follows (1965).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- FSG first edition, with a stated first printing on the copyright page
- Green cloth boards stamped in gilt to the spine, 72 pp., octavo; title-page drawing by Francis Parker; priced dust jacket
- Contains the title elegy 'For the Union Dead' (the Colonel Shaw / Boston Common poem)
- Publisher imprint reads Farrar, Straus and Giroux
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Robert Lowell |
| Publisher | Farrar, Straus and Giroux |
| Year | 1964 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | FSG first edition, with a stated first printing on the copyright page |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
FSG first edition, with a stated first printing on the copyright page. Green cloth boards stamped in gilt to the spine, 72 pp., octavo; title-page drawing by Francis Parker; priced dust jacket. Contains the title elegy 'For the Union Dead' (the Colonel Shaw / Boston Common poem).

## Is this the true first?
US true first; the Faber UK edition follows (1965). Signed copies are scarce.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition of note; later printings carry higher printing statements.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *For the Union Dead* by Robert Lowell a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/for-the-union-dead
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.