Is My A Dictionary of the English Language a First Edition?

The points of issue

• London, 1755
• TWO VOLUMES, FOLIO — this is the whole triage
• The first edition is a pair of large folios (roughly 410 x 255 mm), published 15 April 1755 in an edition of 2,000 copies, representing about nine years of work
• Volume 1 carries the title-page, the Preface, "The History of the English Language" and "An English Grammar," then A-K; Volume 2 runs L-Z. Roughly 40,000 words illustrated by about 114,000 quotations
• The full imprint must read "Printed by W. Strahan, for J. and P. Knapton
• T. and T. Longman

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
4. Verify this is the UK true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
6. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

The census claim is CORRECT: the London 1755 two-volume folio is the true first, and the census is also right that format triage is the key step. No UK/US or original-language precedence question arises — Johnson wrote in English, the work was published in London, and no American folio competes. The critical distinction to state plainly is folio-vs-octavo: the 1756 abridgment (two much smaller OCTAVO volumes, January 1756, its title-page announcing the text as abstracted from the folio edition by the author) is a different book, prepared by Johnson but not the first edition of the Dictionary. The second edition is likewise not a rival first: it was issued in 165 weekly numbers beginning within weeks of the folio and completed in 1756.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition exists for a 1755 folio. Documented reprint tells, in the order a donor is likely to hold them: (1) the 1756 two-volume OCTAVO abridgment — physically small, and the title-page itself announces the abridgment; (2) the second edition in 165 weekly numbers (1755-56) and later 18th-century folios (the fourth edition of 1773 is Johnson's own revision and is separately noteworthy, but it is not the first); (3) 19th-century "Johnson's Dictionary" derivatives, above all H. J. Todd's revised octavo editions and the many Walker/Todd hybrids sold under Johnson's name — these are revisions by other hands, not Johnson's text; (4) modern facsimiles and Folio Society reproductions, identifiable by modern paper, a publisher's slipcase and a 20th/the printed pricet-century copyright notice. If the book is not a large folio with the 1755 Strahan/Knapton conger imprint, it is not the first edition.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of A Dictionary of the English Language a first edition?

A first edition of A Dictionary of the English Language by Samuel Johnson (Printed by W. Strahan for J. and P. Knapton; T. and T. Longman; C. Hitch and L. Hawes; A. Millar; and R. and J. Dodsley, London) is identified by: London, 1755; TWO VOLUMES, FOLIO — this is the whole triage.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. The census claim is CORRECT: the London 1755 two-volume folio is the true first, and the census is also right that format triage is the key step.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

No book-club edition exists for a 1755 folio. Documented reprint tells, in the order a donor is likely to hold them: (1) the 1756 two-volume OCTAVO abridgment — physically small, and the title-page itself announces the abridgment; (2) the second edition in 165 weekly numbers (1755-56) and later 18th-century folios (the fourth edition of 1773 is Johnson's own revision and is separately noteworthy, but it is not the first); (3) 19th-century "Johnson's Dictionary" derivatives, above all H. J. Todd'

I have a first edition of A Dictionary of the English Language — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.