2 Alexis de Tocqueville first editions are documented on this shelf, from De la démocratie en Amérique (Democracy in America) (1835) to Democracy in America (De la démocratie en Amérique) (1835) across 2 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Alexis de Tocqueville title from later printings and book-club copies — the publisher and year to expect, the number-line or edition-statement conventions, and the tells that show up in online listings.

Identification only, per the house rule: no prices and no appraisals here. Checking a Alexis de Tocqueville copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.

De la démocratie en Amérique (Democracy in America) — 1835 · Charles Gosselin, ParisThe two halves are identified by opposite rules, and this is where most sets go wrong. Volumes I–II (Gosselin, Paris, January 1835, about 500 copies): the first printing carries NO edition statement on the title page. The book sold out at once and the 1835 reprints do carry one ("Deuxième édition," "Troisième édition"), so any edition statement on an 1835 volume rules the copy out. Volumes III–IV (Gosselin, 1840)…. The Paris French text is the true first — the census claim is correct. Henry Reeve's English translation followed quickly and is collected in its own right as the first edition in English: London, Saunders and Otley, 1835 (first part) and 1840 (second part). The first American edition is the Reeve translation with an original preface and notes by John C. Spencer, New York: George Dearborn & Co., 1838 (also found…. The dominant trap is the made-up set. Because volumes III–IV did not appear until 1840, by which time volumes I–II were several printings along, genuine four-volume sets pairing 1835 first-printing volumes I–II with 1840 volumes III–IV are scarce, and many sets sold as "first edition" marry later 1835–1839 printings of I–II to 1840 III–IV. Check every title page individually. Gosselin reprinted three times in….
Democracy in America (De la démocratie en Amérique) — 1835 · Charles GosselinTrue first (French): Paris, Charles Gosselin, 1835 — Part One in 2 volumes, octavo, collating [4], xxiv, 367 pp. and [4], 459 pp., with half-titles present in both volumes and, critically, one folding hand-coloured lithographic map; a set lacking the map is defective. Part Two followed from Gosselin in April 1840 in 2 further volumes (volumes 3 and 4 of the complete work). Bibliographic references: Howes…. Census claim confirmed. The Gosselin French text is the true first and the original-language edition. Three editions are separately collected: the 1835/1840 Gosselin French original; the Reeve translation from Saunders and Otley, London (1835/1840), which is the first edition in English; and the 1838 New York printing, which is the first American edition and adds Spencer's preface and notes — matter not in either…. The dominant trap is the made-up set rather than a book club. Part One sold so well that Gosselin reissued it repeatedly — it had reached its third edition within the year and its eighth edition by the time Part Two appeared in April 1840. Four-volume sets in uniform contemporary binding that are first edition throughout are consequently rare, and sets are routinely assembled by pairing genuine 1840 Part Two….

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