# Is "A Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States" by Asa Gray a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States by Asa Gray (James Munroe and Company, 1848) is identified by: First edition, full title A Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States, from New England to Wisconsin and South to Ohio and Pennsylvania Inclusive (the Mosses and Liverworts by Wm.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, full title A Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States, from New England to Wisconsin and South to Ohio and Pennsylvania Inclusive (the Mosses and Liverworts by Wm
- S. Sullivant), Arranged According to the Natural System
- Collates lxxii, 710 pages, illustrated with wood-engravings after Isaac Sprague
- Bound in publisher's blind-stamped brown cloth, with the spine either gilt-lettered directly or fitted with a gilt-lettered leather label
- The title page reads simply 'Boston: James Munroe and Company
- 1848.' with no edition statement
- Publisher imprint reads James Munroe and Company

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Asa Gray |
| Publisher | James Munroe and Company |
| Year | 1848 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, full title A Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States, from New England to Wisconsin and South to Ohio and… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First edition, full title A Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States, from New England to Wisconsin and South to Ohio and Pennsylvania Inclusive (the Mosses and Liverworts by Wm. S. Sullivant), Arranged According to the Natural System. Collates lxxii, 710 pages, illustrated with wood-engravings after Isaac Sprague. Bound in publisher's blind-stamped brown cloth, with the spine either gilt-lettered directly or fitted with a gilt-lettered leather label. The title page reads simply 'Boston: James Munroe and Company. 1848.' with no edition statement.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Gray revised the Manual repeatedly, through a second edition of 1856 and further editions into the 1860s and beyond; any title page carrying an edition number or a later date is a revision, not the 1848 first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States* by Asa Gray a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-manual-of-the-botany-of-the-northern-united-states
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.