# Is "Wintering Out" by Seamus Heaney a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Wintering Out by Seamus Heaney (Faber and Faber, London, 1972) is identified by: First edition, first impression, Faber and Faber, London, 1972 — issued as a paperback original in publisher's stiff printed wrappers (blue, grey, black and white, lettered in black, with French flaps), pp. UK true first — but not as the census states.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first impression, Faber and Faber, London, 1972 — issued as a paperback original in publisher's stiff printed wrappers (blue, grey, black and white, lettered in black, with French flaps), pp
- This wrappered issue is the true first; no 1972 hardback was issued simultaneously, and the hardback did not appear until 1973
- Faber's post-1968 practice sets the year on the copyright page in Arabic numerals ('First published in 1972 by Faber and Faber Limited') and notes subsequent impressions there, so any impression line denotes a reprint
- One dealer records 2,500 copies of the wrappered issue; that figure rests on a single source and is uncorroborated
- An uncorrected proof is recorded as preceding all published copies, in wrappers or boards, UK or American
- Publisher imprint reads Faber and Faber, London
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Seamus Heaney |
| Publisher | Faber and Faber, London |
| Year | 1972 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | First edition, first impression, Faber and Faber, London, 1972 — issued as a paperback original in publisher's stiff printed wrappers… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition, first impression, Faber and Faber, London, 1972 — issued as a paperback original in publisher's stiff printed wrappers (blue, grey, black and white, lettered in black, with French flaps), pp. (6) 7-80. This wrappered issue is the true first; no 1972 hardback was issued simultaneously, and the hardback did not appear until 1973. Faber's post-1968 practice sets the year on the copyright page in Arabic numerals ('First published in 1972 by Faber and Faber Limited') and notes subsequent impressions there, so any impression line denotes a reprint. One dealer records 2,500 copies of the wrappered issue; that figure rests on a single source and is uncorroborated. An uncorrected proof is recorded as preceding all published copies, in wrappers or boards, UK or American.

## Is this the true first?
UK true first — but not as the census states. CORRECTION: the priority copy is the Faber wrappered paperback original of 1972, not a Faber hardback; the census note omits this and implies a conventional hardback first. Faber's hardback followed in 1973. The first American edition is Oxford University Press, New York, 1973, in turquoise cloth-effect boards with gilt spine lettering, in dust jacket; one dealer records 500 copies. The Faber 1973 hardback and the OUP 1973 American edition are both collected as first hardcover appearances, but neither has priority over the 1972 wrappers.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue documented. The dominant trap is a 1973 hardback — Faber or Oxford University Press — described as 'the first edition'; both are a year later than the wrappered original, and Ulysses Rare Books catalogues a 1973 issue as the second issue. Because the true first is a paperback original, condition tells (spine toning, panel wear, chipping at the spine foot) rather than jacket points govern identification; jackets belong to the 1973 hardbacks only.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Wintering Out* by Seamus Heaney a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/wintering-out
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.