# Is "Adventures of Gordon Pym (The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket)" by Edgar Allan Poe a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Adventures of Gordon Pym (The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket) by Edgar Allan Poe (Harper & Brothers, 1838) is identified by: US first: Harper & Brothers, New York, July 1838, in original cloth; verify the Harper imprint and the publisher's advertisement catalogue. US Harper edition (July 1838) is the true first and precedes the London Wiley & Putnam edition (October 1838).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- US first: Harper & Brothers, New York, July 1838, in original cloth; verify the Harper imprint and the publisher's advertisement catalogue
- The US Harper text includes the concluding editorial 'Note' explaining Pym's death and the supposedly lost final chapters
- The first English edition (Wiley & Putnam, London, October 1838) is a separate, slightly later issue: it OMITS the final March 22 diary entry (the white-figure ending), adds a few sentences to the preface, and adopts British spellings
- Identify by imprint and by whether the closing ending/Note is present
- Publisher imprint reads Harper & Brothers
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Edgar Allan Poe |
| Publisher | Harper & Brothers |
| Year | 1838 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | US first: Harper & Brothers, New York, July 1838, in original cloth; verify the Harper imprint and the publisher's advertisement catalogue |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Poe's only novel. US first: Harper & Brothers, New York, July 1838, in original cloth; verify the Harper imprint and the publisher's advertisement catalogue. The US Harper text includes the concluding editorial 'Note' explaining Pym's death and the supposedly lost final chapters. The first English edition (Wiley & Putnam, London, October 1838) is a separate, slightly later issue: it OMITS the final March 22 diary entry (the white-figure ending), adds a few sentences to the preface, and adopts British spellings. Identify by imprint and by whether the closing ending/Note is present.

## Is this the true first?
US Harper edition (July 1838) is the true first and precedes the London Wiley & Putnam edition (October 1838). The London edition is textually altered, dropping the final diary entry and modifying the preface. Verify by imprint and the presence of the original ending.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later reprints lack the 1838 Harper cloth and ad catalogue. The London issue is distinguished by its cut ending, altered preface, and British spellings, not by an 'added' note.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Adventures of Gordon Pym (The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket)* by Edgar Allan Poe a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/adventures-of-gordon-pym-the-narrative-of-arthur-gordon-pym
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.