# Is "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities" by Delmore Schwartz a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of In Dreams Begin Responsibilities by Delmore Schwartz (New Directions, Norfolk, Connecticut, 1938) is identified by: Schwartz's first book, published 12 December 1938 in an edition of 1,000 copies. New Directions, Norfolk, Connecticut, 1938 is the true first — census correct.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Schwartz's first book, published 12 December 1938 in an edition of 1,000 copies
- No edition or printing statement and no number line — identification rests on the imprint, the limitation and the physical book
- Tall 8vo (approximately 23.5 cm), bound in black cloth with the title stamped in gilt on the spine and the New Directions logo stamped in gilt on the front cover; collation [ii], [10], 11-171, [3] pp
- Contents are a reliable structural check: the title story, the narrative poem "Coriolanus and His Mother," a section of 25 poems, and "Dr
- Bergen's Belief," a play in prose and verse
- The jacket is scarce and the great majority of surviving copies lack it; where present it is a priced jacket, with the price present at the flap
- Publisher imprint reads New Directions, Norfolk, Connecticut

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Delmore Schwartz |
| Publisher | New Directions, Norfolk, Connecticut |
| Year | 1938 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | Schwartz's first book, published 12 December 1938 in an edition of 1,000 copies |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Schwartz's first book, published 12 December 1938 in an edition of 1,000 copies. No edition or printing statement and no number line — identification rests on the imprint, the limitation and the physical book. Tall 8vo (approximately 23.5 cm), bound in black cloth with the title stamped in gilt on the spine and the New Directions logo stamped in gilt on the front cover; collation [ii], [10], 11-171, [3] pp. Contents are a reliable structural check: the title story, the narrative poem "Coriolanus and His Mother," a section of 25 poems, and "Dr. Bergen's Belief," a play in prose and verse. The jacket is scarce and the great majority of surviving copies lack it; where present it is a priced jacket, with the price present at the flap. Advance review copies exist, rubberstamped by the publisher on the front flyleaf "Review Copy / Publication Date / Dec 12 1938" — these precede the trade issue and should be described as review copies, not as a distinct state of the book.

## Is this the true first?
New Directions, Norfolk, Connecticut, 1938 is the true first — census correct. No UK edition has been traced, so US-only precedence stands. One genuine precedence caveat: the title story first appeared in the inaugural issue of Partisan Review in 1937, a year before the book; that periodical appearance precedes the book but is a magazine printing, not a collected edition, and does not displace the 1938 New Directions as the first edition in book form.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition is documented; the 1,000-copy first was too small and too literary for club distribution. The principal first-thus trap is New Directions' posthumous In Dreams Begin Responsibilities and Other Stories (1978), a different, resettext selection with a different title that is widely offered under the 1938 title — it is not the first edition. Screeno: Stories and Poems (2004) is likewise a later selection. Any copy titled "...and Other Stories," or in any binding other than the black gilt-stamped cloth, is not the 1938 first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *In Dreams Begin Responsibilities* by Delmore Schwartz a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/in-dreams-begin-responsibilities
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.