# Is "The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems" by W. B. Yeats a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems by W. B. Yeats (Kegan Paul, Trench, & Co., 1889) is identified by: Yeats's first published collection of poetry, following only the earlier pamphlet Mosada, and his first book issued in a trade cloth binding, printed in an edition of 500 copies.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Yeats's first published collection of poetry, following only the earlier pamphlet Mosada, and his first book issued in a trade cloth binding, printed in an edition of 500 copies
- Collates vi, 156pp; bound in the publisher's dark-blue cloth lettered in gilt on the spine and upper cover, with a monogram device blind-stamped at the centre of the back cover, all edges uncut
- Contains the title poem together with early lyrics that Yeats later regathered under the heading "Crossways" in his 1895 collected Poems
- Publisher imprint reads Kegan Paul, Trench, & Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | W. B. Yeats |
| Publisher | Kegan Paul, Trench, & Co. |
| Year | 1889 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | Yeats's first published collection of poetry, following only the earlier pamphlet Mosada, and his first book issued in a trade cloth… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Yeats's first published collection of poetry, following only the earlier pamphlet Mosada, and his first book issued in a trade cloth binding, printed in an edition of 500 copies. Collates vi, 156pp; bound in the publisher's dark-blue cloth lettered in gilt on the spine and upper cover, with a monogram device blind-stamped at the centre of the back cover, all edges uncut. Contains the title poem together with early lyrics that Yeats later regathered under the heading "Crossways" in his 1895 collected Poems.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Yeats's own 1895 collected Poems substantially revised many of these early texts and regrouped them under new section headings ("Crossways," "The Rose"); a copy of the 1895 or later collected Poems containing these lyrics is not a copy of the scarcer 1889 first book, which must show the original dark-blue cloth and uncut edges.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems* by W. B. Yeats a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-wanderings-of-oisin-and-other-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.