# Is "Lupercal" by Ted Hughes a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Lupercal by Ted Hughes (Faber & Faber, London, 1960) is identified by: First edition, first impression: octavo (216 x 137mm), pp. Faber & Faber (London), 18 March 1960 is the true first, confirming the census claim; Hughes received author's copies on 23 February 1960, ahead of publication.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first impression: octavo (216 x 137mm), pp
- 63 + [1 blank], printed by the Bowering Press for Faber; original violet cloth (described variously by dealers as violet, purple or maroon) lettered in gilt at the spine, in Berthold Wolpe's typographic dust wrapper printed on green laid paper
- The wrapper should be unclipped with the price present at the flap
- Published 18 March 1960 in 2,250 copies
- Sagar & Tabor A3.a.1
- The printed dedication "to Sylvia" (Sylvia Plath) is present
- Publisher imprint reads Faber & Faber, London

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Ted Hughes |
| Publisher | Faber & Faber, London |
| Year | 1960 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | First edition, first impression: octavo (216 x 137mm), pp |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition, first impression: octavo (216 x 137mm), pp. 63 + [1 blank], printed by the Bowering Press for Faber; original violet cloth (described variously by dealers as violet, purple or maroon) lettered in gilt at the spine, in Berthold Wolpe's typographic dust wrapper printed on green laid paper. The wrapper should be unclipped with the price present at the flap. Published 18 March 1960 in 2,250 copies; Sagar & Tabor A3.a.1. The printed dedication "to Sylvia" (Sylvia Plath) is present. Cloth-colour descriptions vary between dealers, so the Wolpe green laid-paper wrapper and the Faber imprint are the reliable checks.

## Is this the true first?
Faber & Faber (London), 18 March 1960 is the true first, confirming the census claim; Hughes received author's copies on 23 February 1960, ahead of publication. The Harper & Brothers (New York) 1960 issue is the first American — 750 copies, Sagar & Tabor A3.a.2, in purple cloth — and follows the Faber. Both are collected. The American issue is identified by "Harper" stamped on the spine and by page 5 being numbered.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition documented. The one firmly documented reprint tell is on the American side: the second impression of the Harper & Brothers issue leaves page 5 unnumbered, where the first impression has it numbered.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Lupercal* by Ted Hughes a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/lupercal
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.