# Is "The Maximus Poems" by Charles Olson a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Maximus Poems by Charles Olson (Jargon / Corinth Books, 1960) is identified by: Jargon/Corinth Books first collected edition, 1960 (Jonathan Williams's Jargon Society in association with Corinth), first printing. The true first appearances are the earlier piecemeal installments, The Maximus Poems / 1-10 (1953) and / 11-22 (1956), printed by hand letterpress in Stuttgart, Germany (Dr.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Jargon/Corinth Books first collected edition, 1960 (Jonathan Williams's Jargon Society in association with Corinth), first printing
- Issued primarily in decorated wrappers with a map design; a small hardcover binding was also done (about 75 numbered copies, plus 26 lettered-and-signed copies)
- It gathers and revises material first issued piecemeal: The Maximus Poems / 1-10 (Jargon 7, 1953) and The Maximus Poems / 11-22 (Jargon 9, 1956)
- Publisher imprint reads Jargon / Corinth Books
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Charles Olson |
| Publisher | Jargon / Corinth Books |
| Year | 1960 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | Jargon/Corinth Books first collected edition, 1960 (Jonathan Williams's Jargon Society in association with Corinth), first printing |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Jargon/Corinth Books first collected edition, 1960 (Jonathan Williams's Jargon Society in association with Corinth), first printing. Issued primarily in decorated wrappers with a map design; a small hardcover binding was also done (about 75 numbered copies, plus 26 lettered-and-signed copies). It gathers and revises material first issued piecemeal: The Maximus Poems / 1-10 (Jargon 7, 1953) and The Maximus Poems / 11-22 (Jargon 9, 1956).

## Is this the true first?
The true first appearances are the earlier piecemeal installments, The Maximus Poems / 1-10 (1953) and / 11-22 (1956), printed by hand letterpress in Stuttgart, Germany (Dr. Cantz'sche Druckerei) for Jonathan Williams's Jargon imprint, in small editions (about 300 and 350 copies). The 1960 Jargon/Corinth volume is the first collected gathering, not the first appearance; choose by goal.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition. The crux is the early hand-printed Stuttgart installments (1953, 1956) vs the 1960 first collected edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Maximus Poems* by Charles Olson a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-maximus-poems
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.