# Is "The Collected Earlier Poems" by William Carlos Williams a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Collected Earlier Poems by William Carlos Williams (New Directions, 1951) is identified by: First edition, New Directions (New York), 1951, octavo, collating [10],482 pages, in publisher's red cloth with a gilt-lettered spine, issued in a dust jacket. US New Directions first edition, 1951.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, New Directions (New York), 1951, octavo, collating [10],482 pages, in publisher's red cloth with a gilt-lettered spine, issued in a dust jacket
- The dust jacket is the scarcer element and is notably uncommon on surviving first-printing copies; a first issue should carry the printed price on the jacket flap (present on an unclipped example)
- Confirm by the New Directions imprint and the 1951 date
- Publisher imprint reads New Directions
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | William Carlos Williams |
| Publisher | New Directions |
| Year | 1951 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, New Directions (New York), 1951, octavo, collating [10],482 pages, in publisher's red cloth with a gilt-lettered spine… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition, New Directions (New York), 1951, octavo, collating [10],482 pages, in publisher's red cloth with a gilt-lettered spine, issued in a dust jacket. The dust jacket is the scarcer element and is notably uncommon on surviving first-printing copies; a first issue should carry the printed price on the jacket flap (present on an unclipped example). Confirm by the New Directions imprint and the 1951 date.

## Is this the true first?
US New Directions first edition, 1951. Copies in the original dust jacket in the first printing are decidedly uncommon; the companion volume Collected Later Poems is a separate later book and should not be conflated with this title.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book club edition. The scarce first-printing dust jacket is the key identifying element on surviving copies.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Collected Earlier Poems* by William Carlos Williams a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-collected-earlier-poems
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.