# Is "Four Quartets" by T. S. Eliot a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Four Quartets by T. S. Eliot (Harcourt, Brace, 1943) 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. The US Harcourt 1943 edition is the true first of the collected 'Four Quartets'; the UK Faber 1944 is the first English collected edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- 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)
- Publisher imprint reads Harcourt, Brace
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | T. S. Eliot |
| Publisher | Harcourt, Brace |
| Year | 1943 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition in one volume: the US Harcourt, Brace edition (New York, 1943) precedes the UK Faber and Faber edition |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
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. 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).

## 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.

## 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.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Four Quartets* by T. S. Eliot a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/four-quartets
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.