# Is "Around the World in Eighty Days" by Jules Verne a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne (Sampson Low, Marston, Low & Searle, 1873) is identified by: The first illustrated English edition was published by Sampson Low, Marston, Low & Searle, London, translated by George M. The Sampson Low London edition (sheets of 1873) precedes the American Osgood edition of the same year, which was bound from sheets printed in London by Gilbert & Rivington from the Sampson Low setting, given a separate James R.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The first illustrated English edition was published by Sampson Low, Marston, Low & Searle, London, translated by George M. Towle, with sheets printed in 1873
- True first-issue copies carry a title page dated 1873, which is extremely scarce; the overwhelming majority of surviving copies from the identical setting instead carry a title page dated 1874, and many of these 1874-dated copies still carry a publisher's catalogue or rear advertisements dated 1873 bound in, indicating the sheets themselves derive from the 1873 printing regardless of the title-page year
- The first-edition binding is publisher's pictorial cloth decorated in gilt and black, recorded in blue cloth boards
- Publisher imprint reads Sampson Low, Marston, Low & Searle
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Jules Verne |
| Publisher | Sampson Low, Marston, Low & Searle |
| Year | 1873 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The first illustrated English edition was published by Sampson Low, Marston, Low & Searle, London, translated by George M. Towle, with… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The first illustrated English edition was published by Sampson Low, Marston, Low & Searle, London, translated by George M. Towle, with sheets printed in 1873. True first-issue copies carry a title page dated 1873, which is extremely scarce; the overwhelming majority of surviving copies from the identical setting instead carry a title page dated 1874, and many of these 1874-dated copies still carry a publisher's catalogue or rear advertisements dated 1873 bound in, indicating the sheets themselves derive from the 1873 printing regardless of the title-page year. The first-edition binding is publisher's pictorial cloth decorated in gilt and black, recorded in blue cloth boards.

## Is this the true first?
The Sampson Low London edition (sheets of 1873) precedes the American Osgood edition of the same year, which was bound from sheets printed in London by Gilbert & Rivington from the Sampson Low setting, given a separate James R. Osgood & Co., Boston title page for the US market.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Sampson Low reprints, including the reset early-20th-century 'Sampson Low, Marston & Company Ld' printings, use plainer bindings and postdate the 1873/1874-title-page first issue.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Around the World in Eighty Days* by Jules Verne a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/around-the-world-in-eighty-days
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.