# Is "Prufrock and Other Observations" by T. S. Eliot a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Prufrock and Other Observations by T. S. Eliot (The Egoist Ltd., 1917) is identified by: First edition (Gallup A1): Eliot's first book, The Egoist Ltd., London, 1917, limited to 500 copies in stiff printed buff/cream wrappers lettered in black; 40 pages, issued without a dust jacket. The Egoist 1917 wrappers issue of 500 copies is the true first; later collected printings in Faber omnibuses are far later firsts thus.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition (Gallup A1): Eliot's first book, The Egoist Ltd., London, 1917, limited to 500 copies in stiff printed buff/cream wrappers lettered in black
- 40 pages, issued without a dust jacket
- A notoriously fragile production and one of the scarcest twentieth-century poetry firsts
- Publisher imprint reads The Egoist Ltd.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | T. S. Eliot |
| Publisher | The Egoist Ltd. |
| Year | 1917 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition (Gallup A1): Eliot's first book, The Egoist Ltd., London, 1917, limited to 500 copies in stiff printed buff/cream wrappers… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition (Gallup A1): Eliot's first book, The Egoist Ltd., London, 1917, limited to 500 copies in stiff printed buff/cream wrappers lettered in black; 40 pages, issued without a dust jacket. A notoriously fragile production and one of the scarcest twentieth-century poetry firsts.

## Is this the true first?
The Egoist 1917 wrappers issue of 500 copies is the true first; later collected printings in Faber omnibuses are far later firsts thus. There is no separate US first of note.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue; the genuine first is the 1917 wrappered pamphlet of 500 copies, identified by imprint and date.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Prufrock and Other Observations* by T. S. Eliot a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/prufrock-and-other-observations
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.