# Is "The Waking: Poems 1933–1953" by Theodore Roethke a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Waking: Poems 1933–1953 by Theodore Roethke (Doubleday, 1953) is identified by: Doubleday & Company first edition, Garden City, New York, 1953, with the "First Edition" statement present on the copyright page. US true first and a 'first thus' selected/new poems gathering; Pulitzer winner.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Doubleday & Company first edition, Garden City, New York, 1953, with the "First Edition" statement present on the copyright page
- Bound in navy/dark blue cloth with the spine lettered/stamped in silver, and issued in a printed pictorial dust jacket which should retain its price on the flap
- Roughly 120 pages, octavo
- Awarded the 1954 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Publisher imprint reads Doubleday
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Theodore Roethke |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
| Year | 1953 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | Doubleday & Company first edition, Garden City, New York, 1953, with the "First Edition" statement present on the copyright page |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Doubleday & Company first edition, Garden City, New York, 1953, with the "First Edition" statement present on the copyright page. Bound in navy/dark blue cloth with the spine lettered/stamped in silver, and issued in a printed pictorial dust jacket which should retain its price on the flap. Roughly 120 pages, octavo. Awarded the 1954 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

## Is this the true first?
US true first and a 'first thus' selected/new poems gathering; Pulitzer winner. Some jackets carry a Pulitzer Prize Winner sticker, which postdates the award and does not affect first-printing status.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition. Later printings drop the "First Edition" statement from the copyright page; the navy cloth with silver spine stamping and the stated First Edition together mark the first printing.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Waking: Poems 1933–1953* by Theodore Roethke a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-waking-poems-1933-1953
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.