# Is "Astoria" by Washington Irving a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Astoria by Washington Irving (Carey, Lea & Blanchard, 1836) is identified by: Published almost simultaneously in October 1836: Richard Bentley's London edition in three volumes, titled "Astoria; or, Enterprise Beyond the Rocky Mountains," and Carey, Lea & Blanchard's Philadelphia edition in two volumes (285 and 279 pages, plus an 8-page publisher's catalogue bound in at the rear of volume two), titled "Astoria, or Anecdotes of an Enterprise Beyond the Rocky Mountains." The near-simultaneous transatlantic timing was deliberate, meant to secure copyright in both Britain and the United States in the absence of any international copyright treaty. The two editions were closely coordinated to appear within the same month of one another and neither has settled, unambiguous priority in standard bibliographies; American collectors generally treat the two-volume Philadelphia Carey, Lea & Blanchard printing as the American first edition, distinct from Bentley's three-volume London printing.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Published almost simultaneously in October 1836: Richard Bentley's London edition in three volumes, titled "Astoria; or, Enterprise Beyond the Rocky Mountains," and Carey, Lea & Blanchard's Philadelphia edition in two volumes (285 and 279 pages, plus an 8-page publisher's catalogue bound in at the rear of volume two), titled "Astoria, or Anecdotes of an Enterprise Beyond the Rocky Mountains." The near-simultaneous transatlantic timing was deliberate, meant to secure copyright in both Britain and the United States in the absence of any international copyright treaty
- First-issue sheets of the Philadelphia edition carry the printer's imprint "Henry W. Rees, Stereotyper" on the verso of the volume-one title leaf and an uncorrected, garbled footnote on page 239 of volume two, with the terminal advertisements left unboxed; both volumes were originally bound in floral-patterned blue cloth with the spine panels stamped in gilt, and volume two includes a folding map of the routes of the Hunt and Stuart overland parties
- Irving compiled the account chiefly from the papers of John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company on the founding of the Astoria trading post on the Columbia River, making it an important secondary narrative of the Pacific Northwest fur trade built from primary participant records
- Publisher imprint reads Carey, Lea & Blanchard
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Washington Irving |
| Publisher | Carey, Lea & Blanchard |
| Year | 1836 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Published almost simultaneously in October 1836: Richard Bentley's London edition in three volumes, titled "Astoria; or, Enterprise Beyond… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Published almost simultaneously in October 1836: Richard Bentley's London edition in three volumes, titled "Astoria; or, Enterprise Beyond the Rocky Mountains," and Carey, Lea & Blanchard's Philadelphia edition in two volumes (285 and 279 pages, plus an 8-page publisher's catalogue bound in at the rear of volume two), titled "Astoria, or Anecdotes of an Enterprise Beyond the Rocky Mountains." The near-simultaneous transatlantic timing was deliberate, meant to secure copyright in both Britain and the United States in the absence of any international copyright treaty. First-issue sheets of the Philadelphia edition carry the printer's imprint "Henry W. Rees, Stereotyper" on the verso of the volume-one title leaf and an uncorrected, garbled footnote on page 239 of volume two, with the terminal advertisements left unboxed; both volumes were originally bound in floral-patterned blue cloth with the spine panels stamped in gilt, and volume two includes a folding map of the routes of the Hunt and Stuart overland parties. Irving compiled the account chiefly from the papers of John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company on the founding of the Astoria trading post on the Columbia River, making it an important secondary narrative of the Pacific Northwest fur trade built from primary participant records.

## Is this the true first?
The two editions were closely coordinated to appear within the same month of one another and neither has settled, unambiguous priority in standard bibliographies; American collectors generally treat the two-volume Philadelphia Carey, Lea & Blanchard printing as the American first edition, distinct from Bentley's three-volume London printing.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
G. P. Putnam later issued Irving's own single-volume "Author's Revised Edition" of Astoria, condensing the original multi-volume text with authorial revisions; a one-volume Putnam printing under this title is a later revised edition, not the 1836 first, which appeared in two volumes (Philadelphia) or three (London).

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Astoria* by Washington Irving a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/astoria
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.