# Is "Poeta en Nueva York (Poet in New York)" by Federico García Lorca a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Poeta en Nueva York (Poet in New York) by Federico García Lorca (W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 1940) is identified by: CENSUS CLAIM CORRECTED — the Norton edition precedes the Séneca edition, not the reverse. Both editions are collected and a serious reference must name both.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- CENSUS CLAIM CORRECTED — the Norton edition precedes the Séneca edition, not the reverse
- Norton first edition (New York, published 24 May 1940), titled 'The Poet in New York and Other Poems': bilingual, with the Spanish text and Rolfe Humphries' English translation printed side by side, an introduction and a closing biographical note by Hershel Brickell; bound in the publisher's orange cloth with the spine titles blocked in brown and gilt
- Its pictorial dust jacket carries a New York skyline cameo on the front panel and should be present and unclipped, with the price present at the flap
- Séneca first edition (Mexico City, colophon dated 15 June 1940, printed at Talleres Gráficos de la Editorial Cultura): issued in the Árbol series, 187 pp. + 1 blank, printed wrappers in two colours, roughly 24.5 x 18 cm, with four drawings by Lorca (two reproduced in colour on coated paper), a prefatory poem by Antonio Machado, and José Bergamín's editorial note and prologue 'La muerte vencida'
- Publisher imprint reads W. W. Norton & Company, New York
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Federico García Lorca |
| Publisher | W. W. Norton & Company, New York |
| Year | 1940 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | CENSUS CLAIM CORRECTED — the Norton edition precedes the Séneca edition, not the reverse |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
CENSUS CLAIM CORRECTED — the Norton edition precedes the Séneca edition, not the reverse. Norton first edition (New York, published 24 May 1940), titled 'The Poet in New York and Other Poems': bilingual, with the Spanish text and Rolfe Humphries' English translation printed side by side, an introduction and a closing biographical note by Hershel Brickell; bound in the publisher's orange cloth with the spine titles blocked in brown and gilt. Its pictorial dust jacket carries a New York skyline cameo on the front panel and should be present and unclipped, with the price present at the flap. Séneca first edition (Mexico City, colophon dated 15 June 1940, printed at Talleres Gráficos de la Editorial Cultura): issued in the Árbol series, 187 pp. + 1 blank, printed wrappers in two colours, roughly 24.5 x 18 cm, with four drawings by Lorca (two reproduced in colour on coated paper), a prefatory poem by Antonio Machado, and José Bergamín's editorial note and prologue 'La muerte vencida'.

## Is this the true first?
Both editions are collected and a serious reference must name both. Norton, New York, is the true first by roughly three weeks — 24 May 1940 against the Séneca colophon of 15 June 1940 — a precedence confirmed both by the dated record and independently by ABAA dealer cataloguing, which describes the Norton as preceding the Mexican edition by several weeks. Séneca is the first edition in Spanish only, and the first illustrated edition. Because Bergamín set his text from the manuscript Lorca left him — a manuscript since lost — and introduced his own arrangement and modifications, the two 1940 texts differ materially and neither is a reprint of the other. Spanish-language sources that call the two 'simultaneous' are describing the near-coincidence, not disputing the dated precedence.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition is documented for either 1940 edition. The main reprint hazard is the facsimile of the Norton bilingual edition issued by the Patronato Cultural Federico García Lorca, which reproduces the 1940 sheets and is not a first; later Séneca-imprint printings and all modern Spanish trade editions likewise carry no first-edition standing.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Poeta en Nueva York (Poet in New York)* by Federico García Lorca a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/poeta-en-nueva-york-poet-in-new-york
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.