# Is "New Poems" by Matthew Arnold a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of New Poems by Matthew Arnold (Macmillan and Co., 1867) is identified by: First edition octavo in the publisher's original green cloth, spine lettered in gilt, with a twin-fillet border in gilt on the front cover and in blind on the rear cover, brown coated endpapers, and untrimmed edges.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition octavo in the publisher's original green cloth, spine lettered in gilt, with a twin-fillet border in gilt on the front cover and in blind on the rear cover, brown coated endpapers, and untrimmed edges
- Seven of the poems collected here ("Empedocles on Etna," "Human Life," "Youth and Calm," "Youth's Agitations," "Lines Written in Kensington Gardens," "The Second Best," and "Progress") are reprinted from the withdrawn 1852 volume Empedocles on Etna, and Other Poems
- Most of the remaining poems are gathered into an Arnold book for the first time here, though a few, including "Thyrsis" and "A Southern Night," had already appeared in periodicals before 1867
- The true exception is "Dover Beach": Arnold is understood to have drafted it around 1851 and kept it out of print for roughly fifteen years, making this 1867 volume its first appearance anywhere
- Publisher imprint reads Macmillan and Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Matthew Arnold |
| Publisher | Macmillan and Co. |
| Year | 1867 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | First edition octavo in the publisher's original green cloth, spine lettered in gilt, with a twin-fillet border in gilt on the front cover… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition octavo in the publisher's original green cloth, spine lettered in gilt, with a twin-fillet border in gilt on the front cover and in blind on the rear cover, brown coated endpapers, and untrimmed edges. Seven of the poems collected here ("Empedocles on Etna," "Human Life," "Youth and Calm," "Youth's Agitations," "Lines Written in Kensington Gardens," "The Second Best," and "Progress") are reprinted from the withdrawn 1852 volume Empedocles on Etna, and Other Poems. Most of the remaining poems are gathered into an Arnold book for the first time here, though a few, including "Thyrsis" and "A Southern Night," had already appeared in periodicals before 1867. The true exception is "Dover Beach": Arnold is understood to have drafted it around 1851 and kept it out of print for roughly fifteen years, making this 1867 volume its first appearance anywhere.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Macmillan collected editions of Arnold's Poems, which folded the New Poems material in with earlier volumes under a single cover, are not the original 1867 stand-alone New Poems.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *New Poems* by Matthew Arnold a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/new-poems
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.