# Is "Versed" by Rae Armantrout a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Versed by Rae Armantrout (Wesleyan University Press, 2009) is identified by: Winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the 2009 National Book Critics Circle Award. US Wesleyan University Press (2009) is the true first; the clothbound issue is the preferred collector's first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the 2009 National Book Critics Circle Award
- The Wesleyan University Press first edition (2009, distributed by University Press of New England) appeared in both a clothbound issue and a simultaneous paperback in the Wesleyan Poetry Series; the cloth issue is the collector's first
- Confirm the first printing by the number line on the copyright page
- Publisher imprint reads Wesleyan University Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Rae Armantrout |
| Publisher | Wesleyan University Press |
| Year | 2009 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | Winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the 2009 National Book Critics Circle Award |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the 2009 National Book Critics Circle Award. The Wesleyan University Press first edition (2009, distributed by University Press of New England) appeared in both a clothbound issue and a simultaneous paperback in the Wesleyan Poetry Series; the cloth issue is the collector's first. Confirm the first printing by the number line on the copyright page.

## Is this the true first?
US Wesleyan University Press (2009) is the true first; the clothbound issue is the preferred collector's first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book club edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Versed* by Rae Armantrout a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/versed
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.