# Is "Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty" by Charles Dickens a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty by Charles Dickens (Chapman and Hall, 1841) is identified by: First separate edition, large octavo, collated (v-vi, iv), (229)-306, 420 pp., with the two-page preface bound in before the title page; the unusual pagination reflects the fact that this edition was bound up from the original Master Humphrey's Clock sheets, retaining that periodical's page numbering (continuing Volume II's sequence to page 306, then restarting at Volume III) rather than being freshly reset. The Master Humphrey's Clock installments (February-November 1841) preceded this separate one-volume book issue; a three-volume Master Humphrey's Clock edition collecting both Barnaby Rudge and The Old Curiosity Shop together was also issued and is a distinct bibliographic item from the separate Barnaby Rudge volume.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First separate edition, large octavo, collated (v-vi, iv),
- -306, 420 pp., with the two-page preface bound in before the title page; the unusual pagination reflects the fact that this edition was bound up from the original Master Humphrey's Clock sheets, retaining that periodical's page numbering (continuing Volume II's sequence to page 306, then restarting at Volume III) rather than being freshly reset
- Published 20 December 1841, though the title page itself is dated 1842, a postdating that should not be mistaken for a later edition
- Barnaby Rudge was originally serialized within Master Humphrey's Clock from February to November 1841 and issued separately as this one-volume book shortly after; the separate first-edition issue is markedly scarcer than the serial parts
- Original binding is red-brown (also recorded as dark grayish-red) fine-diaper cloth, blind-stamped with arabesque and flourish designs on the covers and gilt-lettered on the spine, illustrated throughout with engravings after George Cattermole and Hablot Browne, with marbled endpapers and edges
- Publisher imprint reads Chapman and Hall
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Charles Dickens |
| Publisher | Chapman and Hall |
| Year | 1841 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First separate edition, large octavo, collated (v-vi, iv), |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First separate edition, large octavo, collated (v-vi, iv), (229)-306, 420 pp., with the two-page preface bound in before the title page; the unusual pagination reflects the fact that this edition was bound up from the original Master Humphrey's Clock sheets, retaining that periodical's page numbering (continuing Volume II's sequence to page 306, then restarting at Volume III) rather than being freshly reset. Published 20 December 1841, though the title page itself is dated 1842, a postdating that should not be mistaken for a later edition. Barnaby Rudge was originally serialized within Master Humphrey's Clock from February to November 1841 and issued separately as this one-volume book shortly after; the separate first-edition issue is markedly scarcer than the serial parts. Original binding is red-brown (also recorded as dark grayish-red) fine-diaper cloth, blind-stamped with arabesque and flourish designs on the covers and gilt-lettered on the spine, illustrated throughout with engravings after George Cattermole and Hablot Browne, with marbled endpapers and edges.

## Is this the true first?
The Master Humphrey's Clock installments (February-November 1841) preceded this separate one-volume book issue; a three-volume Master Humphrey's Clock edition collecting both Barnaby Rudge and The Old Curiosity Shop together was also issued and is a distinct bibliographic item from the separate Barnaby Rudge volume.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Chapman and Hall's later Cheap Edition reset the text in a smaller, double-column format with different, fewer illustrations, readily distinguished from the large-octavo first edition and its Cattermole/Browne plates.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty* by Charles Dickens a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/barnaby-rudge-a-tale-of-the-riots-of-eighty
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.