First Publication Dates of Primary Texts; Literature in English: Modern Texts and Contexts

By HLeeSchmidt

  • London, William Blake

    No sources have the official month and day, but the offical year is listed as 1794, published as part of the anthology "Songs of Experience."

  • Preface to the Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth

    The official day is debated, but the month and year are generally agreed to be as thus.

  • London, 1802, Wordsworth

    Despite the title, the poem was first published in 1807, as part of an anthology of poems known as "Poems, in Two Volumes." The official day and month are not known.

  • Northanger Abbey, Austen

    Published after Jane Austen's death. It was published very close to the New Year, which is why it is often considered to have been published in 1818.

  • Ozymandias, Percy Shelley

    First published in the magazine "The Examiner."

  • Frankenstein, Mary Shelley

    Originally wrote in 1816.

  • Ode on a Grecian Urn, John Keats

    It was originally written in May of 1819, but was first published in January of 1820.

  • The Poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson

    The year is agreed on (it was published in a collection of poems called "Essays: Second Series"), but the month and day is not known. The closest I could find is this.

  • Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, An American Slave, Douglas

    No month or day is official.

  • Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte

    Published under pen name "Currer Bell."

  • Song of Myself, Walt Whitman

    Originally published as part of a collection of poems known as "Leaves of Grass," something Walt constantly edited and re-released to the world.

  • The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde

    Technically, it was first performed on this date, as this is the script to a play.

  • In a Station of the Metro, Ezra Pound

    No official month or day is given.

  • Preface to Some Imagist Poets, Amy Lowell

    No official month or day is given.

  • Sea Rose, H. D.

    No official month or day is given. First published as part of a collection of poems called "Sea Garden."

  • If We Must Die, McKay

    First published in the magazine "The Liberator." No official day is given.

  • To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf

    No official month or day is given.

  • Story in Harlem Slang, Zora Neale Hurston

    Originally published as part of the magazine "American Mercury." No official day is given.

  • Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys

    No official day is given.

  • If Black Language Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?, James Baldwin

  • Towards an Aesthetic of Reception, Hans Robert Jauss

    Some sources say this was originally published in September, but no dates are given, and most sources give this date as the first one,

  • Sozaboy: A Novel in Rotten English, Ken Saro-Wiwa

    No official day or month is given for this publication date, though it's later publication date at 1995 has an official date at April 28, 1995.

  • Introduction: Axiomatic, Sedgwick

    Published as part of the novel "A Dialogue on Love." Some sources claim the book was originally published in 1999, though no dates are given. The most widely recognized copy is stated to be published on the given date, so I am going to assume this is the first publication.

  • A Semiprivate Room, Ellen Rooney

    Originally published as part of the anthology "Feminist Theory and the Mode of Address: towards a semiprivate
    room."

  • The Brief Wondrous Life of Osar Wao, Junot Diaz

  • Uses of Literature, Rita Felski