# Is "West-Running Brook" by Robert Frost a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of West-Running Brook by Robert Frost (Henry Holt, 1928) is identified by: Issued as a trade first edition and as a signed limited edition of 1000 numbered copies, signed by Frost, in publisher's slipcase. US Holt, 1928.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Issued as a trade first edition and as a signed limited edition of 1000 numbered copies, signed by Frost, in publisher's slipcase
- Woodcuts by J.J. Lankes (signed prints in the limited)
- The limited was printed at the Merrymount Press in a wholly different setting and pagination from the trade issue; the trade issue is in cloth with dust jacket
- Publisher imprint reads Henry Holt
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Robert Frost |
| Publisher | Henry Holt |
| Year | 1928 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Issued as a trade first edition and as a signed limited edition of 1000 numbered copies… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Issued as a trade first edition and as a signed limited edition of 1000 numbered copies, signed by Frost, in publisher's slipcase. Woodcuts by J.J. Lankes (signed prints in the limited). The limited was printed at the Merrymount Press in a wholly different setting and pagination from the trade issue; the trade issue is in cloth with dust jacket.

## Is this the true first?
US Holt, 1928. The 1000-copy signed limited is the collectible premium over the trade issue; both appeared the same year from the same publisher but in different settings.

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

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *West-Running Brook* by Robert Frost a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/west-running-brook
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.