# Is "Pomes Penyeach" by James Joyce a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Pomes Penyeach by James Joyce (Shakespeare and Company, 1927) is identified by: First edition published by Shakespeare and Company, Paris, 5 July 1927 (Slocum & Cahoon 24). Paris (Shakespeare and Company) is the true and only trade first — there was no contemporaneous UK or US trade edition, so place-of-first-publication precedence is unambiguous.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition published by Shakespeare and Company, Paris, 5 July 1927 (Slocum & Cahoon 24)
- Issued in pale green (“seaweed”-green) papered boards lettered in dark green, with a printed errata slip tipped in on the blank page facing the colophon
- Contains the thirteen-poem sequence (the opening “Tilly” being the added baker's-dozen poem), the price echoed in the title (the printed price / twelve francs); a simultaneous deluxe issue of thirteen copies on hand-made paper was also produced
- Publisher imprint reads Shakespeare and Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | James Joyce |
| Publisher | Shakespeare and Company |
| Year | 1927 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition published by Shakespeare and Company, Paris, 5 July 1927 (Slocum & Cahoon 24) |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition published by Shakespeare and Company, Paris, 5 July 1927 (Slocum & Cahoon 24). Issued in pale green (“seaweed”-green) papered boards lettered in dark green, with a printed errata slip tipped in on the blank page facing the colophon. Contains the thirteen-poem sequence (the opening “Tilly” being the added baker's-dozen poem), the price echoed in the title (the printed price / twelve francs); a simultaneous deluxe issue of thirteen copies on hand-made paper was also produced.

## Is this the true first?
Paris (Shakespeare and Company) is the true and only trade first — there was no contemporaneous UK or US trade edition, so place-of-first-publication precedence is unambiguous. The ordinary green-boards issue is the collected first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The 1932 Obelisk Press (Paris) edition, with illuminated initials (lettrines) by Lucia Joyce, is a celebrated later first-thus — NOT the 1927 first. Appearances of the poems in later Collected Poems volumes are reprints.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Pomes Penyeach* by James Joyce a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/pomes-penyeach
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.