# Is "Harmonium" by Wallace Stevens a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Harmonium by Wallace Stevens (Alfred A. Knopf, 1923) is identified by: Stevens's first book; Alfred A. US Knopf 1923 is the true first; there is no prior UK edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Stevens's first book
- Alfred A. Knopf, 1923
- 1,500 copies total, bound over time in three states (Edelstein A.I.a)
- First binding (about 500 copies): paper-covered boards patterned in a red/blue/yellow check (Curwen-style) over a blue-cloth spine, yellow paper spine label printed in red, top edge stained red — the desirable first issue
- Second binding (about 215 copies, the smallest run): pastel-striped paper boards over blue cloth with the paper spine label
- Third binding: plain full blue cloth with the yellow/red paper spine label
- Publisher imprint reads Alfred A. Knopf

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Wallace Stevens |
| Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf |
| Year | 1923 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | Stevens's first book |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Stevens's first book; Alfred A. Knopf, 1923; 1,500 copies total, bound over time in three states (Edelstein A.I.a). First binding (about 500 copies): paper-covered boards patterned in a red/blue/yellow check (Curwen-style) over a blue-cloth spine, yellow paper spine label printed in red, top edge stained red — the desirable first issue. Second binding (about 215 copies, the smallest run): pastel-striped paper boards over blue cloth with the paper spine label. Third binding: plain full blue cloth with the yellow/red paper spine label. All three carry the 1923 first-edition text.

## Is this the true first?
US Knopf 1923 is the true first; there is no prior UK edition. The patterned check-paper boards with red-stained top edge (Edelstein A.I.a) are the wanted first binding; the pastel-striped and plain blue-cloth states are later bindings of the same first-edition sheets.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book club. Do not confuse the 1923 first with the 1931 Knopf 'second edition,' a revised text that DROPS three 1923 poems ('The Silver Plough-Boy,' 'Exposition of the Contents of a Cab,' 'Architecture') and ADDS fourteen new ones (including 'Sea Surface Full of Clouds' and 'The Death of a Soldier'). The 1931 reissue is distinguished by its 1931 date, the changed contents, and its own binding states — listings routinely conflate the two.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Harmonium* by Wallace Stevens a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/harmonium
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.