# Is "The Enormous Room" by E. E. Cummings a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Enormous Room by E. E. Cummings (Boni & Liveright, New York, 1922) is identified by: Boni and Liveright, New York, 1922; octavo, 271 pages. US true first, and the census claim is confirmed on both counts.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Boni and Liveright, New York, 1922; octavo, 271 pages
- The accepted and most reliable point is on page 219: the first state has the word 'Shit!' present in the last line; in the later state the word is expurgated — blacked out or removed
- A copy dated 1922 on the title page with page 219 clean is a later state, so the date alone settles nothing
- Binding is publisher's coarse tan buckram lettered in black on spine and front cover, with fore- and bottom edges rough-trimmed; the cloth is described by some dealers as mustard rather than tan, which is a shade quibble rather than a variant
- Issued in a printed dust jacket — dealer descriptions report a green printed jacket with a design by Cummings — which rarely survives; refer to it only as a priced jacket / price present at the flap
- Publisher imprint reads Boni & Liveright, New York
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | E. E. Cummings |
| Publisher | Boni & Liveright, New York |
| Year | 1922 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Boni and Liveright, New York, 1922; octavo, 271 pages |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Boni and Liveright, New York, 1922; octavo, 271 pages. The accepted and most reliable point is on page 219: the first state has the word 'Shit!' present in the last line; in the later state the word is expurgated — blacked out or removed. A copy dated 1922 on the title page with page 219 clean is a later state, so the date alone settles nothing. Binding is publisher's coarse tan buckram lettered in black on spine and front cover, with fore- and bottom edges rough-trimmed; the cloth is described by some dealers as mustard rather than tan, which is a shade quibble rather than a variant. Issued in a printed dust jacket — dealer descriptions report a green printed jacket with a design by Cummings — which rarely survives; refer to it only as a priced jacket / price present at the flap.

## Is this the true first?
US true first, and the census claim is confirmed on both counts. Boni & Liveright, New York, 1922 precedes the first UK edition, Jonathan Cape (London, 1928), which adds an introduction by Robert Graves and is separately collected as the first English edition. Both editions are collected; the Cape is the first appearance of the Graves introduction, not of the text.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Cape reissued the book in 1930 as volume 2 in 'The Life & Letters Series,' still carrying the Graves introduction — an early reissue, not the 1928 first UK, and it is sometimes miscatalogued as the first English edition even by established dealers. The Modern Library edition of 1934 adds a new introduction written by Cummings (a dialogue between Author and Public) and is a first edition thus for that introduction only; later Cape printings, including 1968, also carry the 1934 Modern Library introduction and are first thus at best. No book-club issue is documented for the 1922 Liveright printing.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Enormous Room* by E. E. Cummings a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-enormous-room
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.