# Is "A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism" by James Clerk Maxwell a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism by James Clerk Maxwell (Clarendon Press, 1873) is identified by: First edition, first issue, two volumes, octavo, issued in the 'Clarendon Press Series.' Each volume has a half-title, and the work is illustrated with 21 lithographic plates -- one bound after page 148 of volume I, the rest gathered at the end of the volumes -- along with numerous in-text diagrams.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first issue, two volumes, octavo, issued in the 'Clarendon Press Series.' Each volume has a half-title, and the work is illustrated with 21 lithographic plates -- one bound after page 148 of volume I, the rest gathered at the end of the volumes -- along with numerous in-text diagrams
- Volume I carries an errata slip tipped in before the text, and volume II carries a 15-page publisher's advertisement catalogue at the rear
- In first-issue copies that catalogue still lists the Treatise itself as 'just published'; second-issue copies replace the errata slip with printed errata leaves and drop the 'just published' wording
- Publisher imprint reads Clarendon Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | James Clerk Maxwell |
| Publisher | Clarendon Press |
| Year | 1873 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first issue, two volumes, octavo, issued in the 'Clarendon Press Series.' Each volume has a half-title, and the work is… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, first issue, two volumes, octavo, issued in the 'Clarendon Press Series.' Each volume has a half-title, and the work is illustrated with 21 lithographic plates -- one bound after page 148 of volume I, the rest gathered at the end of the volumes -- along with numerous in-text diagrams. Volume I carries an errata slip tipped in before the text, and volume II carries a 15-page publisher's advertisement catalogue at the rear. In first-issue copies that catalogue still lists the Treatise itself as 'just published'; second-issue copies replace the errata slip with printed errata leaves and drop the 'just published' wording.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Maxwell was revising the work for a second edition at the time of his death in 1879; that revision, completed by W. D. Niven, appeared in 1881 and reworks substantial sections, so a first edition must be dated 1873 with no edition statement on the title page.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism* by James Clerk Maxwell a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-treatise-on-electricity-and-magnetism
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.