Is My An American Dictionary of the English Language a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition, first printing: 'New York: Published by S. Converse,' printed by Hezekiah Howe of New Haven, 1828
• Two volumes, quarto, approx
• 290 x 235 mm (11 the printed price x 9 the printed price in.)
• Print run of only 2,500 copies
• Volume I carries an engraved frontispiece portrait of Webster by A. B. Durand after the painting by Samuel F. B. Morse, and an 80-page prefatory section containing Webster's introductory dissertation on the origin, history and connection of the languages of Western Asia and Europe
• Over 70,000 entries, of which some 12,000 words had not previously appeared in a dictionary

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

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 UK 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?

Census confirmed, with one refinement: the imprint is a split one and should be quoted in full — published by S. Converse in New York, printed by Hezekiah Howe in New Haven, 1828. Cataloguing it as 'S. Converse, New York' alone is correct but incomplete, and the New Haven printing line on the title page is part of what identifies the sheets. There is no UK-versus-US precedence question: this is an American work first published in America. An 1830-32 London issue exists but follows the New York first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

CENSUS CONFIRMED that donors far more often hold later Merriam revisions. The chain: Webster issued a second edition in 1841 with his son William G. Webster, whose title page does not claim second-edition status but describes itself as the 'first edition in octavo' — the format change from the 1828 quarto to octavo is the quickest tell. After Webster's death on 28 May 1843, George and Charles Merriam bought the unsold stock, unbound sheets, electrotype plates and publishing rights to the 1841 edition from Webster's heirs, and issued their revised and enlarged edition on 24 September 1847, edited by Professor Chauncey A. Goodrich of Yale, Webster's son-in-law. Any copy bearing a Merriam or G. & C. Merriam imprint, or dated 1847 or later, is a revision and not the 1828 first, however imposing the binding. Facsimiles of the 1828 edition have also been reprinted in modern times and are marked as such.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of An American Dictionary of the English Language a first edition?

A first edition of An American Dictionary of the English Language by Noah Webster (S. Converse, New York) is identified by: First edition, first printing: 'New York: Published by S.

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. Census confirmed, with one refinement: the imprint is a split one and should be quoted in full — published by S.

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

CENSUS CONFIRMED that donors far more often hold later Merriam revisions. The chain: Webster issued a second edition in 1841 with his son William G. Webster, whose title page does not claim second-edition status but describes itself as the 'first edition in octavo' — the format change from the 1828 quarto to octavo is the quickest tell. After Webster's death on 28 May 1843, George and Charles Merriam bought the unsold stock, unbound sheets, electrotype plates and publishing rights to the 1841 ed

I have a first edition of An American Dictionary of the English Language — 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.