Is My A Pair of Blue Eyes a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition in book form in three small-octavo volumes, London: Tinsley Brothers, 1873, from a small print run of approximately 500 copies, issued in publisher's green cloth
• Collation runs [6], 303, [1 blank]; [6], 311, [1 blank]; [6], 262 pp., and a complete copy retains the half-titles in all three volumes; volume III normally ends with a 16-page Tinsley Brothers catalogue dated March 1873, which is frequently lacking
• Dealers also cite a first-state typographic point, a mis-aligned 'c' in 'clouds' at volume II page 5
• Original cloth is very scarce and the book is frequently found rebound

How Tinsley Brothers marked a first edition

• No edition statement: a first is identified by the title-page date with no later-printing wording, complete in the correct number of volumes (usually three), with half-titles present.

Full Tinsley Brothers first-edition guide →

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 American 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 Tinsley Brothers three-decker is the true first and is the first of Hardy's novels to carry his name on the title page — his earlier Desperate Remedies (1871) and Under the Greenwood Tree (1872) had appeared anonymously. It follows serialization in Tinsleys' Magazine (September 1872-July 1873). An American edition (Henry Holt, Leisure Hour Series) also appeared in 1873 but is later; the London edition is the true first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Michael Sadleir ranked it No. I in his 'Comparative Scarcities,' i.e. Hardy's scarcest first edition. No book-club issue is at stake for the 1873 first; watch for later Osgood/McIlvaine and Macmillan Wessex-format reprints, which are 'first thus,' not the true first.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of A Pair of Blue Eyes a first edition?

A first edition of A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy (Tinsley Brothers) is identified by: First edition in book form in three small-octavo volumes, London: Tinsley Brothers, 1873, from a small print run of approximately 500 copies, issued in publisher's green cloth.

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 Tinsley Brothers three-decker is the true first and is the first of Hardy's novels to carry his name on the title page — his earlier Desperate Remedies (1871) and Under the Greenwood Tree (1872) had appeared anonymously.

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

Michael Sadleir ranked it No. I in his 'Comparative Scarcities,' i.e. Hardy's scarcest first edition. No book-club issue is at stake for the 1873 first; watch for later Osgood/McIlvaine and Macmillan Wessex-format reprints, which are 'first thus,' not the true first.

I have a first edition of A Pair of Blue Eyes — 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.