# Is "An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolae Vaccinae" by Edward Jenner a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolae Vaccinae by Edward Jenner (Printed for the author by Sampson Low, 1798) is identified by: First edition, quarto, printed for the author by Sampson Low at No.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, quarto, printed for the author by Sampson Low at No
- 7 Berwick Street, Soho, and sold by Law, Ave-Maria Lane, and by Murray and Highley, Fleet Street
- Collates iv, 75, [1] pages plus 4 unnumbered leaves of plates, colour-printed in sanguine and hand-finished, engraved by William Skelton after drawings by Edward Pearce and Skelton
- A complete first-issue copy retains its integral half-title (copies 'wanting the half-title' are a commonly noted defect) and all four plates
- The pamphlet presents 23 case histories of cowpox inoculation as protection against smallpox, published at Jenner's own expense
- Publisher imprint reads Printed for the author by Sampson Low
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Edward Jenner |
| Publisher | Printed for the author by Sampson Low |
| Year | 1798 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, quarto, printed for the author by Sampson Low at No |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, quarto, printed for the author by Sampson Low at No. 7 Berwick Street, Soho, and sold by Law, Ave-Maria Lane, and by Murray and Highley, Fleet Street. Collates iv, 75, [1] pages plus 4 unnumbered leaves of plates, colour-printed in sanguine and hand-finished, engraved by William Skelton after drawings by Edward Pearce and Skelton. A complete first-issue copy retains its integral half-title (copies 'wanting the half-title' are a commonly noted defect) and all four plates. The pamphlet presents 23 case histories of cowpox inoculation as protection against smallpox, published at Jenner's own expense.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Jenner's own supplementary pamphlets, Further Observations on the Variolae Vaccinae (1799) and A Continuation of Facts and Observations Relative to the Variolae Vaccinae (1800), are separate later publications occasionally bound in afterward; a copy consisting only of the 1798 Inquiry under its own 1798 title page is the first edition proper.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolae Vaccinae* by Edward Jenner a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/an-inquiry-into-the-causes-and-effects-of-the-variolae-vacci
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.