Is My Four Quartets a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition in one volume: the US Harcourt, Brace edition (New York, 1943) precedes the UK Faber and Faber edition
• as the first collected printing of all four quartets together, dated 1943 with no later-printing notice
• Note a first-state quirk: because of faulty wartime margins, most of the 1943 Harcourt sheets were destroyed and only a small number (about 788 copies, retained to secure copyright) survive, so the genuine 1943 first is scarce
• The four quartets first appeared separately ('Burnt Norton' in 'Collected Poems 1909-1935', then 'East Coker', 'The Dry Salvages' and 'Little Gidding' as Faber pamphlets, 1940-42)

How Harcourt, Brace marked a first edition

• 1919-1921 (Harcourt, Brace & Howe): number '1' on copyright page = first printing, '2' = second, etc.
• 1921-1931: no statement on first printings; the first-edition notice (when later adopted) was simply absent, so rely on no later-printing notice.

Full Harcourt, Brace first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. 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.
4. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. 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.
6. 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?

The US Harcourt 1943 edition is the true first of the collected 'Four Quartets'; the UK Faber 1944 is the first English collected edition. The separately issued individual quartets are distinct, separately collected objects.P-030387

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later printings note impressions. The separate-pamphlet firsts are distinct and desirable to completists. Confirm the 1943 Harcourt sheets for the collected first, and be aware that the surviving 1943 printing is small because of the destroyed faulty sheets.P-030388

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Four Quartets a first edition?

A first edition of Four Quartets by T. S. Eliot (Harcourt, Brace) is identified by: First edition in one volume: the US Harcourt, Brace edition (New York, 1943) precedes the UK Faber and Faber edition (1944) as the first collected printing of all four quartets together, dated 1943 with no later-printing notice.

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. The US Harcourt 1943 edition is the true first of the collected 'Four Quartets'; the UK Faber 1944 is the first English collected edition.

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

Later printings note impressions. The separate-pamphlet firsts are distinct and desirable to completists. Confirm the 1943 Harcourt sheets for the collected first, and be aware that the surviving 1943 printing is small because of the destroyed faulty sheets.

I have a first edition of Four Quartets — 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.