# Is "A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys" by Nathaniel Hawthorne a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys by Nathaniel Hawthorne (Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, 1851) is identified by: Although the title page is dated 1852, the true first edition was actually published in November 1851 by Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, Boston, in a printing of 3,067 copies, Hawthorne's retelling of six Greek myths framed as tales told by the Williams College student Eustace Bright at Tanglewood.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Although the title page is dated 1852, the true first edition was actually published in November 1851 by Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, Boston, in a printing of 3,067 copies, Hawthorne's retelling of six Greek myths framed as tales told by the Williams College student Eustace Bright at Tanglewood
- The first printing is identified by the misprint 'lifed' for 'lifted' on page 21, line 3; a second printing, ordered almost immediately in December 1851 (also dated 1852 on its title page), corrects this misprint
- The book includes a frontispiece and six inserted engraved plates after designs by Hammatt Billings, issued in original cloth (commonly gray-green, vertically ribbed, stamped in blind, with gilt spine lettering)
- Publisher imprint reads Ticknor, Reed, and Fields
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Nathaniel Hawthorne |
| Publisher | Ticknor, Reed, and Fields |
| Year | 1851 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Although the title page is dated 1852, the true first edition was actually published in November 1851 by Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, Boston… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Although the title page is dated 1852, the true first edition was actually published in November 1851 by Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, Boston, in a printing of 3,067 copies, Hawthorne's retelling of six Greek myths framed as tales told by the Williams College student Eustace Bright at Tanglewood. The first printing is identified by the misprint 'lifed' for 'lifted' on page 21, line 3; a second printing, ordered almost immediately in December 1851 (also dated 1852 on its title page), corrects this misprint. The book includes a frontispiece and six inserted engraved plates after designs by Hammatt Billings, issued in original cloth (commonly gray-green, vertically ribbed, stamped in blind, with gilt spine lettering).

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Countless later illustrated 'gift book' reprintings of A Wonder-Book (Victorian and 20th-century) carry different illustrators' plates and publishers' names; none reproduce the original Ticknor, Reed, and Fields 1851/'52-dated first printing with the uncorrected 'lifed' misprint on page 21.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys* by Nathaniel Hawthorne a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-wonder-book-for-girls-and-boys
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.