# Is "Selected Poems" by James Tate a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Selected Poems by James Tate (Wesleyan University Press, 1991) is identified by: Won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the 1992 William Carlos Williams Award. US Wesleyan/UPNE (1991) is the true first; the clothbound hardcover in dust jacket is the collector's first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the 1992 William Carlos Williams Award
- The true first is the Wesleyan University Press / University Press of New England hardcover of 1991, in black cloth boards with a dust jacket, identified as first edition, first printing; a simultaneous paperback was also issued
- Publisher imprint reads Wesleyan University Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | James Tate |
| Publisher | Wesleyan University Press |
| Year | 1991 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | Won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the 1992 William Carlos Williams Award |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the 1992 William Carlos Williams Award. The true first is the Wesleyan University Press / University Press of New England hardcover of 1991, in black cloth boards with a dust jacket, identified as first edition, first printing; a simultaneous paperback was also issued.

## Is this the true first?
US Wesleyan/UPNE (1991) is the true first; the clothbound hardcover in dust jacket is the collector's first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition noted.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Selected Poems* by James Tate a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/selected-poems-james-tate
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.