First Editions

FIRST EDITIONS

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The library is full of old books of poetry, which are almost all scanned now, online, and searchable, thanks to Google and the Internet Archive. If you want to see the actual first edition, everything from the original title page and table of contents to the entire contents, there are a surprising number of important nineteenth-century first editions online. The key is knowing which editions have “authority.” Authoritative editions are ones that were published during the poet’s lifetime by his or her publisher, so the publisher worked directly with the poet’s manuscripts and the poet (usually) proofread the text. The editions linked to through the lists below are only authoritative English editions for the poets.

FIRST EDITIONS

Matthew Arnold

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

William Wordsworth