William Harrison Ainsworth First Editions

• Rookwood: A Romance — 1834 · Richard BentleyFirst edition (Sadleir 26), three volumes, octavo, published by Richard Bentley in April 1834. Its only illustration was a portrait frontispiece of Ainsworth, engraved by Finden after a design by Daniel Maclise -- not the Cruikshank illustrations the novel later became known for. The first edition's collation calls for no half-titles but an initial blank leaf in volume I, a point recorded in Sadleir's description…. The celebrated program of Cruikshank copper-plate illustrations was not part of the 1834 first edition; it was first added in the fourth edition, issued in one volume by William Macrone and Richard Bentley in 1836. A copy carrying a full run of Cruikshank plates, or lacking the Maclise/Finden portrait frontispiece, is therefore a later printing rather than the true 1834 first.
• Jack Sheppard: A Romance — 1839 · Richard BentleyFirst edition in book form (Sadleir 14, Wolff 53, Cohn 12), three volumes octavo, published October 1839 following prior serialization in Bentley's Miscellany from January 1839. Pagination runs [i-v]vi[vii]viii[ix-xii][1]2-352; [i-iii]iv[1-3]4-292; [i-v]vi[1]2-312, with a half title present in volume III only (Sadleir calls specifically for the half title in vol. III and notes its frequent absence). The book…. Serialization in Bentley's Miscellany ran January 1839 to February 1840 and was still in progress when Bentley issued the three-volume book edition in October 1839; the book edition was in turn followed by a further 1840 reissue in fifteen weekly numbers.
• The Tower of London: A Historical Romance — 1840 · Richard BentleyFirst edition, octavo, published by Richard Bentley in 1840 (Cohn 14), collating xvi + 439 pages plus an engraved frontispiece, 39 further inserted engraved plates, and 58 in-text wood engravings, all by George Cruikshank. The work was first issued in 13 monthly parts in illustrated wrappers (January-December 1840) before being gathered into the single-volume octavo; sets bound up from the parts, or assembled…. Originally issued in 13 monthly parts (January-December 1840) in pictorial wrappers, with the complete bound octavo volume appearing alongside the final part in December 1840; the first-state plate points at pages 16, 28, and 45 apply whether a copy survives in parts or was bound up into a volume. Later printings carry the same three key plates (pp. 16, 28, 45) in their second state per Cohn; a copy with those plates already in the second state is a later printing rather than the earliest issue.
• The Miser's Daughter: A Tale — 1842 · Cunningham and MortimerFirst edition in book form, three volumes ('three-decker'), published by Cunningham and Mortimer for the Christmas 1842 market, uniformly bound in original brown publisher's cloth blocked in blind with gilt-lettered spines, and illustrated with 20 engraved plates by George Cruikshank. This followed prior serialization in Ainsworth's Magazine from January to October 1842, issued in ten monthly parts with two…. The Ainsworth's Magazine serialization (January-October 1842, in ten monthly parts) preceded the three-volume book edition, published by Cunningham and Mortimer for the Christmas 1842 market as the serialization concluded.
• Windsor Castle: An Historical Romance — 1843 · Henry ColburnFirst edition in book form, three volumes octavo, published by Henry Colburn in 1843 following serialization in Ainsworth's Magazine (July 1842-June 1843). Original binding is half black cloth over drab boards with printed paper spine labels, edges uncut; a half title appears only in volume III. A significant illustration-based issue point: the 1843 three-volume Colburn edition contains only a Maclise-designed…. Serialized in Ainsworth's Magazine (July 1842-June 1843) ahead of any book publication. The three-volume Colburn edition and the single-volume Colburn edition issued in eleven monthly parts (1843-44) are two distinct, concurrently marketed book issues rather than sequential editions and carry different illustration programs, so neither should be read as a later or defective copy of the other. The single-volume Colburn edition, issued concurrently in eleven monthly parts during 1843-44 with a much fuller illustration program (Johannot, Cruikshank, and Delamotte), is a separate issue from the three-volume first edition and should not be mistaken for it or treated as superseding it.

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