Under Milk Wood

The Dent (London) 1954 issue is the true first book publication and precedes New Directions (New York), 1954, which the trade uniformly describes as the first American edition. Both editions are collected — the Dent as the first, the New Directions as the first American — but only Dent is the true first. Sources disagree on the exact month of the Dent issue (February is the most repeated date; at least one dealer says July), so no month should be relied on for identification. Earlier magazine appearances of the text were abridged and are not book editions.