W. B. Yeats First Editions

• The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems — 1889 · Kegan Paul, Trench, & Co.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…. 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.
• Responsibilities: Poems and a Play — 1914 · The Cuala PressThe true first is the Cuala Press (Churchtown, Dundrum), 1914, printed by Elizabeth Corbet Yeats and limited to 400 copies, bound in linen-backed grey boards with the title printed in black on the upper cover and a Cuala/Dun Emer woodcut device; collation [viii], 74, [10] pp (Wade 110). Some copies carry an erratum slip. It contains the thirty-one 'Responsibilities' poems and a new version of the play 'The…. First-thus trap: the Macmillan (London) 1916 'Responsibilities and Other Poems' is a distinct, expanded trade edition (different title, ~1,000 copies) that adds 'The Well and the Tree,' poems from 'The Green Helmet' and the 1912 New York edition, and 'The Hour-Glass' — not a reprint of the Cuala book. The Cuala Press (Dundrum) 1914 is the true first of 'Responsibilities: Poems and a Play.'. No book-club edition. Do not conflate the 1916 Macmillan 'Responsibilities and Other Poems' or later collected reprints with the 1914 Cuala first.
• The Wild Swans at Coole — 1917 · The Cuala Press, Churchtown, DundrumThe Cuala first is titled in full 'The Wild Swans at Coole, Other Verses and A Play in Verse'. Published November 1917 in a limitation of 400 copies, the limitation recorded in the colophon at the rear printed in red; the Cuala charging-unicorn device appears on the leaf preceding the title. Octavo, bound in quarter linen (grey or buff) over blue paper-covered boards, title printed in black on the upper cover,…. Ireland precedes England, and the two editions are not the same book. The Cuala Press issue (Churchtown, Dundrum, November 1917, 400 copies) is the true first. Macmillan's trade edition of March 1919 drops At the Hawk's Well and adds poems, including the first book appearances of 'In Memory of Major Robert Gregory' and 'An Irish Airman Foresees His Death'; sources consulted disagree on how many poems were added…. No book-club edition. No later Cuala printing in this setting is recorded in the sources consulted, so a copy in this setting should be one of the 400 — verify against the colophon. The tells that matter are later-edition rather than club tells: a Macmillan imprint (1919 and after) is a different edition with different contents, not a reprint of the Cuala, and Yeats's poems were later gathered into collected….
• Michael Robartes and the Dancer — 1920 · The Cuala Press, Churchtown, DundrumChurchtown, Dundrum: The Cuala Press. CORRECTION to the census year: the title page is dated MCMXX (1920), not 1921 — the printed text reads "THE CUALA PRESS / CHURCHTOWN / DUNDRUM / MCMXX" — and the colophon records the printing as finished on All Souls' Day 1920, while Wade records actual publication in February 1921. Catalogues therefore split between 1920 and 1921 for one and the same book; there is only one…. Irish, and the census claim of Cuala Press precedence is correct: Churchtown, Dundrum is the true and only first edition; there is no competing London or New York edition of this title, and the poems were subsequently absorbed into Macmillan's collected editions, which are first thus. CORRECTION to the census contents note: this is the first book appearance of "The Second Coming" (first printed in The Dial,…. No book-club edition; Cuala hand-press books were not reprinted by the press. The reprint traps are Macmillan's collected editions, the modern Cornell "Manuscript Materials" scholarly volume, and Wikisource/Project Gutenberg digital texts — none of which are editions of issue.
• A Vision — 1925 · T. Werner LaurieThe true first is T. Werner Laurie (London), 1925, 'privately printed for subscribers only,' limited to 600 copies numbered and signed by Yeats, and usually found with the publisher's slip; bound in paper/parchment-backed boards with a printed spine label and a plain dust jacket, with decorations by Edmund Dulac. The title-page is dated 1925 although the book was actually issued in January 1926. Full title: 'A…. Distinct-edition trap: the Macmillan (London) 1937 'A Vision' — with the Macmillan (New York) issue following in 1938 — is a wholly rewritten and reset text, a separate edition rather than a reprint. The 1925 T. Werner Laurie signed limited is the true first; the 1937 revision is collected in its own right but is not the same book. No book-club edition documented. The 1937 Macmillan revision (and 1938 US Macmillan) is a different text, not a later printing of the 1925 edition.
• The Tower — 1928 · Macmillan and Co. Ltd., LondonLondon: Macmillan and Co. Ltd., published 14 February 1928 in a first impression of 2,000 copies (Wade 158). Collation vi, 110 pp. plus terminal advertisement leaves; octavo. Bound in publisher's green (olive-green) cloth, elaborately stamped in gilt on both front cover and spine with T. Sturge Moore's design of Thoor Ballylee, Co. Galway, reflected in the water below it; fore and bottom edges untrimmed. The dust…. UK is the true first and the census claim is correct: London (Macmillan), 14 February 1928, precedes the New York Macmillan edition of 22 May 1928 by over three months. Both are collected — the New York Macmillan 1928 is the American first (its own second impression followed in January 1929) and should be described as such, not as "the" first edition. First-thus trap: the 2004 Scribner "The Tower: A Facsimile…. No book-club edition documented. The reprint traps are the later London impressions (second, March 1928; third, July 1929, textually corrected), the New York Macmillan edition of 22 May 1928 and its January 1929 second impression, and the 2004 facsimile paperback.
• The Winding Stair — 1929 · The Fountain Press, New YorkWade 164; also cited as Connolly, The Modern Movement, 56b. A signed limited edition of 642 copies, the limitation leaf carrying the statement, with Yeats's signature at the front on the half-title. Sources conflict on the signing: several ABAA dealers describe all 642 copies as signed, while others record 642 printed of which 600 were signed on the half-title — treat the figure as unsettled and rely on the…. A US-before-UK trap and a contents trap at once. The Fountain Press (New York) 1929 signed limited is the true first appearance of The Winding Stair — the collection reached print in America, not in Ireland or England. Macmillan's London trade edition of 1933 is a different and substantially larger book, 'The Winding Stair and Other Poems' (Wade 169), in green cloth decorated in blind on the upper board and…. No book-club edition of the 1929 Fountain Press limited; signed limiteds are not club-issued. The reprint risk sits with the 1933 Macmillan, where the New York issue and later impressions follow the London first printing. For the 1929, the risk is not a club copy but a made-up one — confirm the limitation leaf, the half-title signature, and the Fountain Press imprint together.
• The Winding Stair and Other Poems — 1933 · MacmillanThe full collection's true first is Macmillan (London), October 1933, in green cloth with T. Sturge Moore's design (blind-stamped to the upper board, gilt to the spine) and the matching Sturge Moore pictorial dust jacket; a second impression followed in December 1933, and a Macmillan New York trade edition also appeared in 1933 after the London. It was preceded in part by 'The Winding Stair' (The Fountain Press,…. Two collected editions, differently titled. 'The Winding Stair' (Fountain Press, New York, 1929, signed limited, partial contents) precedes and is not identical to the complete 'The Winding Stair and Other Poems' (Macmillan, London, 1933). The Macmillan London 1933 is the true first of the full collection and precedes the Macmillan New York 1933 trade issue. The December 1933 second impression and the 1933 Macmillan New York issue are not the London first. No book-club edition documented; beware later Macmillan collected/reprint appearances of the sequence.

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