2 William James first editions are documented on this shelf, from The Principles of Psychology (1890) to The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature (1902) across 2 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that William James 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.

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The Principles of Psychology — 1890 · Henry Holt and CompanyFirst edition, first printing, two volumes, issued as part of 'The American Science Series.' First-issue points include 'Psy-chology' hyphenated across the line on the advertisement leaf facing each volume's title page, together with uncorrected errors reading 'the seat of intellectual power' on page 10 of volume 1 and 'object of some absent object of sensation' on page 101 of volume 2. Volume II closes with 8…. Holt's later printings correct the page-10 and page-101 misreadings and the 'Psychology' hyphenation error even though still dated 1890; the heavily abridged one-volume Psychology: Briefer Course (1892) is an entirely different, later book, not an edition of the Principles.
The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature — 1902 · Longmans, Green & Co.The American issue is identified by the statement "First Edition June, 1902" on the verso of the title leaf, which the English issue does NOT carry. The definitive first-issue point is the misspelling "Nietsche" (for Nietzsche) at page 38, line 11; the second printing corrects this to "Nietzsche." Collation is the Gifford Lectures text, octavo, with publisher's ads at the rear. Verified against two independent…. Both the New York and London issues bear the Longmans, Green imprint dated 1902 and are collected together. The census note ("US customarily treated as first") oversimplifies: the London issue is generally reported to have been made up from the American sheets with a cancel (substitute) title leaf and published slightly earlier (c. 9 June 1902), while the earliest American trade notice is 21 June 1902 — so…. Not a notable book-club title. The chief later-issue tell within the first edition is the corrected "Nietzsche" spelling at p.38/l.11, marking the second (and later) printings; the English issue lacks the "First Edition June 1902" statement.

More Nonfiction & Memoir shelves: Adam Smith, Alexis de Tocqueville, Alfred Russel Wallace, Barbara W. Tuchman, Baruch Spinoza, Benjamin Franklin.

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