Is My Copy of Anatomy, Descriptive and Surgical (Gray's Anatomy) -- first American edition a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First American edition, large octavo (about 10 1/8 x 6 1/2 in.; 257 x 165 mm), collating xxxii, 754 pp., illustrated with the 363 wood-engraved figures after Henry Vandyke Carter's drawings
• Philadelphia: Blanchard and Lea, 1859 — printed from the 1858 London original, with a number of the first London printing's typographical errors corrected and the index expanded
• The title page reads 'Philadelphia: Blanchard and Lea, 1859,' distinguishing it from the London first
• Issued in publisher's cloth or contemporary leather (sheep/calf) library bindings

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. 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.
3. Verify this is the American true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. 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.
5. 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?

The true first edition of the work is London: John W. Parker and Son, 1858, by Henry Gray with illustrations by Henry Vandyke Carter. The Philadelphia Blanchard and Lea printing described here is the first American edition, issued about a year later as an imprint of the English edition before Blanchard and Lea had purchased full American rights — which they did for the first AUTHORIZED American edition of 1862 (the first of some twenty-five distinct American editions).P-037530

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

From the 1862 authorized American edition onward, and through the further American editions into the 20th century, the book was progressively re-edited by other hands after Gray's death in 1861; any title page naming a later editor (or a printing dated after 1859) is a much later revision, not the 1858/1859 original text. No book-club edition is at issue here.P-037531

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Anatomy, Descriptive and Surgical (Gray's Anatomy) -- first American edition a first edition?

A first edition of Anatomy, Descriptive and Surgical (Gray's Anatomy) -- first American edition by Henry Gray (Blanchard and Lea) is identified by: First American edition, large octavo (about 10 1/8 x 6 1/2 in.; 257 x 165 mm), collating xxxii, 754 pp., illustrated with the 363 wood-engraved figures after Henry Vandyke Carter's drawings.

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. The true first edition of the work is London: John W. Parker and Son, 1858, by Henry Gray with illustrations by Henry Vandyke Carter.

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

From the 1862 authorized American edition onward, and through the further American editions into the 20th century, the book was progressively re-edited by other hands after Gray's death in 1861; any title page naming a later editor (or a printing dated after 1859) is a much later revision, not the 1858/1859 original text. No book-club edition is at issue here.

I have a first edition of Anatomy, Descriptive and Surgical (Gray's Anatomy) -- first American edition — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.