# Is "Belinda" by Maria Edgeworth a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Belinda by Maria Edgeworth (J. Johnson, 1801) is identified by: First edition, three volumes, advertised in the London Courier and Evening Gazette of 6 June 1801 as issued 'in 3 vols., in boards' by J.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, three volumes, advertised in the London Courier and Evening Gazette of 6 June 1801 as issued 'in 3 vols., in boards' by J. Johnson
- A genuinely checkable textual identification point distinguishes the first
- and second
- edition text from later printings: in the first two editions the Black servant character Juba marries the English farm-girl Lucy, and Belinda comes close to accepting a marriage proposal from the Creole planter Mr
- The third edition of 1810 substantially revised both plot threads, removing Juba's marriage to Lucy (rewriting her as betrothed to James Jackson) and softening Belinda's near-engagement to Vincent so that she only esteems him
- Publisher imprint reads J. Johnson
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Maria Edgeworth |
| Publisher | J. Johnson |
| Year | 1801 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, three volumes, advertised in the London Courier and Evening Gazette of 6 June 1801 as issued 'in 3 vols., in boards' by J.… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, three volumes, advertised in the London Courier and Evening Gazette of 6 June 1801 as issued 'in 3 vols., in boards' by J. Johnson. A genuinely checkable textual identification point distinguishes the first (1801) and second (1802) edition text from later printings: in the first two editions the Black servant character Juba marries the English farm-girl Lucy, and Belinda comes close to accepting a marriage proposal from the Creole planter Mr. Vincent. The third edition of 1810 substantially revised both plot threads, removing Juba's marriage to Lucy (rewriting her as betrothed to James Jackson) and softening Belinda's near-engagement to Vincent so that she only esteems him.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The 1810 third edition and its descendants carry the revised Juba/Lucy and Vincent plot points described above; the original 1801-02 text (Juba marrying Lucy; Belinda nearly accepting Vincent) survives only in first- and second-edition printings.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Belinda* by Maria Edgeworth a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/belinda
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.