Is My An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Two quarto volumes (about 264 x 216 mm), London: printed for W. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1776, published 9 March 1776
• The first edition carries no edition statement on the title page; the corrected third edition of 1784 and all later London editions state their edition, which is the fastest first screen
• A half-title was issued in volume II only - none was printed for volume I, so its absence there is not a defect and its supposed presence is a warning sign - and a publisher's advertisement leaf belongs at the end of volume II. The first edition is a heavily cancelled book: leaves M3, Q1, U3, 2Z3, 3A4 and 3O4 in volume I and D1 and 3Z4 in volume II are cancels, and auction and ABAA dealer descriptions of the first edition itemise them individually
• References: ESTC T96668
• Rothschild 1897
• Kress 7621

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 American 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?

London is the true first - Smith wrote in English and Strahan and Cadell printed it; there is no earlier foreign or original-language edition. The first American edition is Philadelphia: printed for Thomas Dobson, 1789, three volumes octavo, reprinted from the fourth London edition (Evans 31196); it is a separate Americana collecting point, not the first, and note that Dobson's set is the first American edition of vols. 1 and 3 but the second American edition of vol. 2. The census figure of "about 500 copies" for the first edition is NOT confirmed and should not be published: the 500-copy figure that surfaces in the trade attaches to the 1778 second edition, and no reliable first-edition print run was documented in the sources consulted - what is documented is that the first edition sold out in six months.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue exists for an eighteenth-century quarto. Reprint tells are format and imprint: the first is a two-volume quarto printed for W. Strahan and T. Cadell, London, 1776. The common traps are the many later octavo London editions in three volumes (from the 1784 third edition onward, all with edition statements), Dublin and other non-London imprints, and Dobson's 1789 Philadelphia octavos.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations a first edition?

A first edition of An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith (W. Strahan and T. Cadell, London) is identified by: Two quarto volumes (about 264 x 216 mm), London: printed for W.

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. London is the true first - Smith wrote in English and Strahan and Cadell printed it; there is no earlier foreign or original-language edition.

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

No book-club issue exists for an eighteenth-century quarto. Reprint tells are format and imprint: the first is a two-volume quarto printed for W. Strahan and T. Cadell, London, 1776. The common traps are the many later octavo London editions in three volumes (from the 1784 third edition onward, all with edition statements), Dublin and other non-London imprints, and Dobson's 1789 Philadelphia octavos.

I have a first edition of An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations — 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.