# Is "The First Cities" by Audre Lorde a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The First Cities by Audre Lorde (The Poets Press, New York, 1968) is identified by: Lorde's first book, issued in wrappers: small octavo, [32] unpaginated pages, stapled, in ochre/gold wrappers printed and decorated in black. US-only.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Lorde's first book, issued in wrappers: small octavo, [32] unpaginated pages, stapled, in ochre/gold wrappers printed and decorated in black
- Every copy recorded in the dealer sources consulted is in wrappers; no hardcover, cloth, or limited issue is recorded
- The identifying features are the Poets Press imprint and the introduction by Diane di Prima, who published the book through her own press and who had known Lorde since they were fifteen
- There is no printing statement and no number line, and none is expected from this press
- Copies are occasionally found with the publisher's prospectus/flyer laid in; that is a desirable supplementary feature, not a defining point, and its absence does not unseat a copy
- No print run is documented in the sources consulted, so treat any specific figure as unsupported
- Publisher imprint reads The Poets Press, New York

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Audre Lorde |
| Publisher | The Poets Press, New York |
| Year | 1968 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | Lorde's first book, issued in wrappers: small octavo, [32] unpaginated pages, stapled, in ochre/gold wrappers printed and decorated in black |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Lorde's first book, issued in wrappers: small octavo, [32] unpaginated pages, stapled, in ochre/gold wrappers printed and decorated in black. Every copy recorded in the dealer sources consulted is in wrappers; no hardcover, cloth, or limited issue is recorded. The identifying features are the Poets Press imprint and the introduction by Diane di Prima, who published the book through her own press and who had known Lorde since they were fifteen. There is no printing statement and no number line, and none is expected from this press. Copies are occasionally found with the publisher's prospectus/flyer laid in; that is a desirable supplementary feature, not a defining point, and its absence does not unseat a copy. No print run is documented in the sources consulted, so treat any specific figure as unsupported.

## Is this the true first?
US-only. The Poets Press (New York) 1968 wrappered issue is the sole first edition; there is no UK first, no original-language question, and no simultaneous hardcover, so no precedence trap arises. Lorde's poems had appeared in periodicals and anthologies through the 1960s, but The First Cities is her first stand-alone book. Later Lorde volumes that reprint these poems — the collected and selected editions issued by Norton and others — are new editions rather than states of this book, and share none of its points.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition exists; small-press wrappered poetry of this kind was never a club selection, and no reprint in this setting is recorded. The practical tell is the imprint: a copy bearing any publisher other than The Poets Press is not this edition but a later collection reprinting the poems.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The First Cities* by Audre Lorde a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-first-cities
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.