# Is "The Dancing Bears" by W.S. Merwin a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Dancing Bears by W.S. Merwin (Yale University Press, 1954) is identified by: First edition, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1954, Merwin's second book of poetry (88 pages, small octavo). US Yale University Press, 1954; sole first edition, no earlier or competing printing.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1954, Merwin's second book of poetry (88 pages, small octavo)
- Issued in blue paper-covered boards with a red illustration to the front and titling in white; in the pictorial dust jacket, which carries the printed price on the front flap (present on unclipped copies)
- Identified as the first by the 1954 Yale imprint with no later-printing statement on the copyright page
- Publisher imprint reads Yale University Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | W.S. Merwin |
| Publisher | Yale University Press |
| Year | 1954 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1954, Merwin's second book of poetry (88 pages, small octavo) |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1954, Merwin's second book of poetry (88 pages, small octavo). Issued in blue paper-covered boards with a red illustration to the front and titling in white; in the pictorial dust jacket, which carries the printed price on the front flap (present on unclipped copies). Identified as the first by the 1954 Yale imprint with no later-printing statement on the copyright page.

## Is this the true first?
US Yale University Press, 1954; sole first edition, no earlier or competing printing. Note this title was not itself a Yale Series of Younger Poets selection (that was his 1952 debut A Mask for Janus), though it was likewise published by Yale.

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

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Dancing Bears* by W.S. Merwin a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-dancing-bears
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.