# Is "Gitanjali" by Rabindranath Tagore a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore (The India Society, 1912) is identified by: True first English edition: Gitanjali (Song Offerings), The India Society, London, 1912, printed at the Chiswick Press. The original Bengali Gitanjali (Calcutta, 1910) is the Bengali first, but the Nobel-relevant and most-collected English true first is the 1912 India Society limited edition (the text associated with the 1913 Nobel Prize).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first English edition: Gitanjali (Song Offerings), The India Society, London, 1912, printed at the Chiswick Press
- A limited edition of 750 copies (250 for sale), the limitation so stated on the verso of the title page, with W. B. Yeats's introduction dated September 1912
- Issued in original white gilt-stamped cloth, uncut, with an engraved frontispiece portrait of Tagore (tissue guard present)
- Published November 1912, preceding the 1913 Macmillan trade edition
- Publisher imprint reads The India Society
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Rabindranath Tagore |
| Publisher | The India Society |
| Year | 1912 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | True first English edition: Gitanjali (Song Offerings), The India Society, London, 1912, printed at the Chiswick Press |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
True first English edition: Gitanjali (Song Offerings), The India Society, London, 1912, printed at the Chiswick Press. A limited edition of 750 copies (250 for sale), the limitation so stated on the verso of the title page, with W. B. Yeats's introduction dated September 1912. Issued in original white gilt-stamped cloth, uncut, with an engraved frontispiece portrait of Tagore (tissue guard present). Published November 1912, preceding the 1913 Macmillan trade edition.

## Is this the true first?
The original Bengali Gitanjali (Calcutta, 1910) is the Bengali first, but the Nobel-relevant and most-collected English true first is the 1912 India Society limited edition (the text associated with the 1913 Nobel Prize). The 1913 Macmillan is therefore the trade first, not the true first — the India Society issue precedes it.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The common Macmillan editions (1913 onward) are NOT the limited India Society true first; the India Society issue is limited to 750 copies (250 for sale) and so stated on the verso of the title page. The Bengali original (1910) is a separate collectible, not the English first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Gitanjali* by Rabindranath Tagore a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/gitanjali
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.