# Is "Atalanta in Calydon" by Algernon Charles Swinburne a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Atalanta in Calydon by Algernon Charles Swinburne (Edward Moxon & Co., 1865) is identified by: Small quarto verse-drama, Swinburne's first major success, with a binding designed by Dante Gabriel Rossetti: publisher's cream cloth with the title in gilt on the spine and a gilt device stamped on the upper board.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Small quarto verse-drama, Swinburne's first major success, with a binding designed by Dante Gabriel Rossetti: publisher's cream cloth with the title in gilt on the spine and a gilt device stamped on the upper board
- A recognized point of issue is the presence of cancel leaves at pages 85-86 in the first edition
- Thomas J. Wise's later claim that only 100 copies were printed is now regarded as one of his fabrications
- Swinburne himself put the print run at 300, a figure said to have been confirmed when an American collector assembled more than 100 copies to disprove Wise's number
- Publisher imprint reads Edward Moxon & Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Algernon Charles Swinburne |
| Publisher | Edward Moxon & Co. |
| Year | 1865 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | Small quarto verse-drama, Swinburne's first major success, with a binding designed by Dante Gabriel Rossetti: publisher's cream cloth with… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Small quarto verse-drama, Swinburne's first major success, with a binding designed by Dante Gabriel Rossetti: publisher's cream cloth with the title in gilt on the spine and a gilt device stamped on the upper board. A recognized point of issue is the presence of cancel leaves at pages 85-86 in the first edition. Thomas J. Wise's later claim that only 100 copies were printed is now regarded as one of his fabrications; Swinburne himself put the print run at 300, a figure said to have been confirmed when an American collector assembled more than 100 copies to disprove Wise's number.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Do not rely on any print-run figure attributed to T. J. Wise for this title; check instead for the cream Rossetti-designed cloth and the pp. 85-86 cancel leaves, since a genuine 1865 Moxon first edition is identified by this physical point, not by a stated edition size.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Atalanta in Calydon* by Algernon Charles Swinburne a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/atalanta-in-calydon
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.