4 William Dean Howells first editions are documented on this shelf, from A Modern Instance (1882) to A Traveler from Altruria (1894) across 4 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that William Dean Howells 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 William Dean Howells copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- A Modern Instance — 1882 · James R. Osgood & Co.First edition in book form, James R. Osgood & Co., Boston, 1882 (published October 7, 1882). Octavo, 514 pages, with a blank leaf following page 514 in the first printing. Publisher's green cloth stamped in black and gilt, with ecru endpapers. BAL 9602. US true first, 1882, James R. Osgood & Co., Boston. A separate English (David Douglas, Edinburgh) edition exists; the Boston Osgood is the recognized first and standard first edition. Later Houghton and reprint editions postdate; the genuine first has the 1882 Osgood imprint, the 514-page collation with the terminal blank leaf, and green cloth stamped in black and gilt.
- The Rise of Silas Lapham — 1885 · Ticknor & Co.First edition in book form, Ticknor & Co., Boston, 1885 (after serialization in The Century Magazine). First-printing points: 'Mr. Howells's Latest Works' listed on the verso of the half-title leaf, and only the 'e' of 'sojourner' battered in the last line of page 176. Original gilt-stamped cloth. US true first, 1885, Ticknor & Co., Boston. A near-contemporaneous English edition (David Douglas, Edinburgh, two volumes, 1885) exists, but the Boston Ticknor is the recognized first and standard first edition. Later Houghton, Mifflin and reprint editions postdate; the genuine first has the 1885 Ticknor & Co. imprint, the half-title-verso 'Latest Works' listing, and the battered 'e' in 'sojourner' on page 176.
- Indian Summer — 1886 · Ticknor and CompanyFirst edition dated 1885 on the copyright page and 1886 on the title page, with a Ticknor and Company advertisement for other Howells titles facing the title page. Octavo, 395 pages. Bound in blue cloth-covered boards with blind and black decorative stamping, the author's name in gilt and the title lettered in blue within a gilt box on both the front board and the spine; a variant binding in brown cloth stamped….
- A Traveler from Altruria — 1894 · Harper & BrothersFirst edition, octavo, collating [1-2], [1], 2-318 pp. (BAL 9685), bound in original red cloth stamped in gold. The text had already appeared serialized in Cosmopolitan magazine between November 1892 and October 1893 before this first book publication. Howells built the novel around a visiting Altrurian's dialogue with American vacationers at a New England resort, using the device to critique Gilded Age….
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