# Is "A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers" by Henry David Thoreau a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers by Henry David Thoreau (James Munroe & Co., 1849) is identified by: Thoreau's first book, published at his own expense by James Munroe & Co., Boston, 1849, in an edition of 1,000 copies. US true first, 1849, Munroe.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Thoreau's first book, published at his own expense by James Munroe & Co., Boston, 1849, in an edition of 1,000 copies
- First issue has the original 1849 Munroe title leaf
- Famous for poor sales: Munroe returned 706 unsold copies to Thoreau in 1853 (256 bound, 450 in sheets)
- In 1862 Ticknor & Fields acquired 145 bound copies and the 450 sheets and reissued them with a cancel title page — the second issue
- The genuine first issue must have the integral, un-cancelled 1849 Munroe title leaf, not the Ticknor & Fields cancel
- Publisher imprint reads James Munroe & Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Henry David Thoreau |
| Publisher | James Munroe & Co. |
| Year | 1849 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Thoreau's first book, published at his own expense by James Munroe & Co., Boston, 1849, in an edition of 1,000 copies |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Thoreau's first book, published at his own expense by James Munroe & Co., Boston, 1849, in an edition of 1,000 copies. First issue has the original 1849 Munroe title leaf. Famous for poor sales: Munroe returned 706 unsold copies to Thoreau in 1853 (256 bound, 450 in sheets). In 1862 Ticknor & Fields acquired 145 bound copies and the 450 sheets and reissued them with a cancel title page — the second issue. The genuine first issue must have the integral, un-cancelled 1849 Munroe title leaf, not the Ticknor & Fields cancel.

## Is this the true first?
US true first, 1849, Munroe. The 1862 reissue (remaindered copies and sheets fitted with a Ticknor & Fields cancel title) is a later state; first issue is identified by the original, un-cancelled 1849 Munroe title page.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The 1862 Ticknor & Fields cancel-title reissue and later reprints postdate the first; first issue is identified by the integral, un-cancelled 1849 Munroe title leaf.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers* by Henry David Thoreau a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-week-on-the-concord-and-merrimack-rivers
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.