# Is "The Orators: An English Study" by W.H. Auden a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Orators: An English Study by W.H. Auden (Faber & Faber, London, 1932) is identified by: First edition, Bloomfield & Mendelson A3a: Faber & Faber, London, 1932, in an edition of 1,000 copies. Faber & Faber, London, 1932 is the true first and the census claim is confirmed for the UK.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, Bloomfield & Mendelson A3a: Faber & Faber, London, 1932, in an edition of 1,000 copies
- Octavo, in publisher's black cloth lettered in gilt at the spine; dealers report a blue topstain, usually faded, though that detail rests on a thinner evidentiary base than the rest and should be treated as corroborative only
- No number line — Faber identified impressions by the statement on the verso of the title leaf, so a copy carrying any later-impression line is out
- Foxed endpapers are close to universal
- The dust jacket is plain typographic Faber stock and is genuinely scarce; most copies are offered lacking it, and — a live trap — copies are found in a later jacket of about 1941, so the jacket must be matched to the book rather than assumed
- Refer to the jacket price only as: priced jacket / price present at the flap
- Publisher imprint reads Faber & Faber, London

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | W.H. Auden |
| Publisher | Faber & Faber, London |
| Year | 1932 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, Bloomfield & Mendelson A3a: Faber & Faber, London, 1932, in an edition of 1,000 copies |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition, Bloomfield & Mendelson A3a: Faber & Faber, London, 1932, in an edition of 1,000 copies. Octavo, in publisher's black cloth lettered in gilt at the spine; dealers report a blue topstain, usually faded, though that detail rests on a thinner evidentiary base than the rest and should be treated as corroborative only. No number line — Faber identified impressions by the statement on the verso of the title leaf, so a copy carrying any later-impression line is out. Foxed endpapers are close to universal. The dust jacket is plain typographic Faber stock and is genuinely scarce; most copies are offered lacking it, and — a live trap — copies are found in a later jacket of about 1941, so the jacket must be matched to the book rather than assumed. Refer to the jacket price only as: priced jacket / price present at the flap. A Connolly 100 title, which drives the volume of misdescription around it.

## Is this the true first?
Faber & Faber, London, 1932 is the true first and the census claim is confirmed for the UK. The census's US claim is wrong and is corrected here: the text first reached America in 1934, inside Random House's omnibus Poems (New York, 1934) — Auden's first American book — which gathered Poems, The Orators and The Dance of Death. Random House's 1967 volume is the first SEPARATE American edition and prints the revised third-edition text of 1966 (foreword added, one Ode dropped, cuts and changes throughout), so it is a first-thus, not a first edition, and dealers who catalogue it correctly say 'first separate American edition'. Auden had already revised the book for Faber's second edition of 1934; that is a distinct edition, not a later impression of the 1932 sheets.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue is documented for the 1932 Faber printing. The reprint traps here are editions rather than club copies. Faber's revised second edition of 1934 is offered by date-blind sellers as a 'first edition' — this is the most common error in the market and is settled by the title verso, not the date. Then Faber's third edition of 1966, the Random House first separate American edition of 1967, and Faber's modern paperback reissue (ISBN 9780571283538). A 1932 title page alone is insufficient; the impression statement on the verso governs.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Orators: An English Study* by W.H. Auden a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-orators-an-english-study
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.