# Is "Apologia Pro Vita Sua" by John Henry Newman a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Apologia Pro Vita Sua by John Henry Newman (Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green, 1864) is identified by: The full title reads Apologia Pro Vita Sua: Being a Reply to a Pamphlet Entitled "What, Then, Does Dr. The eight pamphlet parts (21 April-16 June 1864) precede the first book-form collection, issued that same June; both predate the substantially revised 1865 second edition, which Newman retitled History of My Religious Opinions.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The full title reads Apologia Pro Vita Sua: Being a Reply to a Pamphlet Entitled "What, Then, Does Dr
- Newman Mean?" The work originally appeared serially in eight self-wrappered pamphlet parts published weekly by Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green between 21 April and 16 June 1864; these parts were gathered that same June into the first book-form edition, London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green, 1864, collating iv, 430, 127pp, octavo, in the publisher's original cloth
- This 1864 text, in either the pamphlet parts or the first book collection, is Newman's original, polemical response to Charles Kingsley, closing with a lengthy appendix, "Answer in Detail to Mr
- Kingsley's Accusations," that rebuts Kingsley's charges point by point; the earlier exchange of letters between the two men had already appeared separately, in February 1864, as the short pamphlet Mr
- Kingsley and Dr
- Newman: A Correspondence
- Publisher imprint reads Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | John Henry Newman |
| Publisher | Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green |
| Year | 1864 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The full title reads Apologia Pro Vita Sua: Being a Reply to a Pamphlet Entitled "What, Then, Does Dr |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The full title reads Apologia Pro Vita Sua: Being a Reply to a Pamphlet Entitled "What, Then, Does Dr. Newman Mean?" The work originally appeared serially in eight self-wrappered pamphlet parts published weekly by Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green between 21 April and 16 June 1864; these parts were gathered that same June into the first book-form edition, London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green, 1864, collating iv, 430, 127pp, octavo, in the publisher's original cloth. This 1864 text, in either the pamphlet parts or the first book collection, is Newman's original, polemical response to Charles Kingsley, closing with a lengthy appendix, "Answer in Detail to Mr. Kingsley's Accusations," that rebuts Kingsley's charges point by point; the earlier exchange of letters between the two men had already appeared separately, in February 1864, as the short pamphlet Mr. Kingsley and Dr. Newman: A Correspondence. Newman substantially rewrote and softened the text for the retitled second edition, History of My Religious Opinions, published in 1865, which replaced the detailed reply to Kingsley with an expanded series of notes.

## Is this the true first?
The eight pamphlet parts (21 April-16 June 1864) precede the first book-form collection, issued that same June; both predate the substantially revised 1865 second edition, which Newman retitled History of My Religious Opinions.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Any copy titled History of My Religious Opinions, or dated 1865 or later, represents the revised second edition and subsequent printings, not the original 1864 Apologia text.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Apologia Pro Vita Sua* by John Henry Newman a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/apologia-pro-vita-sua
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.