# Is "Winter Trees" by Sylvia Plath a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Winter Trees by Sylvia Plath (Faber and Faber, 1971) is identified by: Faber and Faber (London) first edition, 'first published in 1971' so stated, in priced dust jacket. The Faber edition (1971) is the UK true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Faber and Faber (London) first edition, 'first published in 1971' so stated, in priced dust jacket
- Posthumous collection: a prefatory note by Ted Hughes, twenty-four poems from the last months of Plath's life (the group from which the Ariel poems were drawn), and the verse play 'Three Women.'
- Publisher imprint reads Faber and Faber
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Sylvia Plath |
| Publisher | Faber and Faber |
| Year | 1971 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | Faber and Faber (London) first edition, 'first published in 1971' so stated, in priced dust jacket |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Faber and Faber (London) first edition, 'first published in 1971' so stated, in priced dust jacket. Posthumous collection: a prefatory note by Ted Hughes, twenty-four poems from the last months of Plath's life (the group from which the Ariel poems were drawn), and the verse play 'Three Women.'

## Is this the true first?
The Faber edition (1971) is the UK true first. The US Harper & Row edition (1972) follows, with content differences.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition. The crux is the Faber UK 1971 first versus the later Harper US 1972 edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Winter Trees* by Sylvia Plath a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/winter-trees
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.