# Is "Cosmopolitan Greetings: Poems 1986-1992" by Allen Ginsberg a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Cosmopolitan Greetings: Poems 1986-1992 by Allen Ginsberg (HarperCollins, 1994) is identified by: HarperCollins (New York) trade hardcover, 1994; quarter black cloth over black paper boards with purple spine lettering and a gilt decoration on the front board, in the publisher's pictorial dust jacket. Trade first is the 1994 HarperCollins hardcover.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- HarperCollins (New York) trade hardcover, 1994; quarter black cloth over black paper boards with purple spine lettering and a gilt decoration on the front board, in the publisher's pictorial dust jacket
- The first states First Edition on the copyright page with a number line ending in 1
- First-issue jackets carry the printed cover price and are not price-clipped; spine fading of the jacket is a common condition trait on surviving copies
- Publisher imprint reads HarperCollins
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Allen Ginsberg |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
| Year | 1994 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | HarperCollins (New York) trade hardcover, 1994; quarter black cloth over black paper boards with purple spine lettering and a gilt… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
HarperCollins (New York) trade hardcover, 1994; quarter black cloth over black paper boards with purple spine lettering and a gilt decoration on the front board, in the publisher's pictorial dust jacket. The first states First Edition on the copyright page with a number line ending in 1. First-issue jackets carry the printed cover price and are not price-clipped; spine fading of the jacket is a common condition trait on surviving copies.

## Is this the true first?
Trade first is the 1994 HarperCollins hardcover. Author-signed copies typically bear Ginsberg's 'AH' device or signature dated 1994 on the title page or front free endpaper.

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

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Cosmopolitan Greetings: Poems 1986-1992* by Allen Ginsberg a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/cosmopolitan-greetings-poems-1986-1992
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.