# Is "Krapp's Last Tape and Other Dramatic Pieces" by Samuel Beckett a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Krapp's Last Tape and Other Dramatic Pieces by Samuel Beckett (Grove Press, 1960) is identified by: Grove Press, New York, 1960, first US edition of this gathering, which collects 'Krapp's Last Tape' with other short dramatic pieces (about 141 pages). For 'Krapp's Last Tape' itself, the first book publication is Faber and Faber's 'Krapp's Last Tape and Embers' (London, 1959); the play had earlier appeared in the periodical Evergreen Review in the summer of 1958.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Grove Press, New York, 1960, first US edition of this gathering, which collects 'Krapp's Last Tape' with other short dramatic pieces (about 141 pages)
- Issued in cloth and in Evergreen wrappers
- For the title play specifically, the first book appearance is the Faber and Faber edition of the prior year
- Publisher imprint reads Grove Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Samuel Beckett |
| Publisher | Grove Press |
| Year | 1960 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | Grove Press, New York, 1960, first US edition of this gathering, which collects 'Krapp's Last Tape' with other short dramatic pieces (about… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Grove Press, New York, 1960, first US edition of this gathering, which collects 'Krapp's Last Tape' with other short dramatic pieces (about 141 pages). Issued in cloth and in Evergreen wrappers. For the title play specifically, the first book appearance is the Faber and Faber edition of the prior year.

## Is this the true first?
For 'Krapp's Last Tape' itself, the first book publication is Faber and Faber's 'Krapp's Last Tape and Embers' (London, 1959); the play had earlier appeared in the periodical Evergreen Review in the summer of 1958. The Grove 1960 'Other Dramatic Pieces' volume is a later, more expansive American gathering, not the first appearance of the title play.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition is the collecting target. The crux is Faber UK 1959 versus the Grove 1960 gathering, and cloth versus Evergreen wrappers within the Grove issue.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Krapp's Last Tape and Other Dramatic Pieces* by Samuel Beckett a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/krapps-last-tape-and-other-dramatic-pieces
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.