Is My Childe Harold's Pilgrimage a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition, quarto, an edition of 500 copies that sold out within days of publication in March 1812, printed by Thomas Davison
• Contains Cantos I and II with Byron's explanatory notes, fourteen additional shorter poems, and an appendix on Romaic (modern Greek) language and literature drawn from his recent travels
• The title page carries a French epigraph from Le Cosmopolite, ou le Citoyen du Monde; the quarto was illustrated with a portrait after Richard Westall

How John Murray, with William Blackwood marked a first edition

• No formal edition statement on most 19th-century Murray firsts: identify by the title-page date with no 'New Edition' / 'Second Edition' / number-of-thousand line, the correct imprint ('John Murray, Albemarle Street'), a…

Full John Murray, with William Blackwood first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
4. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
5. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

Murray issued a second, octavo edition only weeks later, on 17 April 1812, with six additional poems, and further editions followed within the same year and over the next several years as the poem's fame grew. Only the original 500-copy quarto of March 1812, containing just Cantos I-II, is the true first edition; format and content must both be checked, not merely the "Murray, 1812" imprint.P-035090

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Because Childe Harold went through numerous printings within 1812 alone and further editions after Cantos III and IV appeared (1816 and 1818), a first-edition copy must be the two-canto March 1812 quarto; octavo copies, or copies containing more than two cantos, are later states or the later four-canto collected editions.P-035091

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage a first edition?

A first edition of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage by Lord Byron (John Murray, with William Blackwood) is identified by: First edition, quarto, an edition of 500 copies that sold out within days of publication in March 1812, printed by Thomas Davison.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. Murray issued a second, octavo edition only weeks later, on 17 April 1812, with six additional poems, and further editions followed within the same year and over the next several years as the poem's fame grew.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

Because Childe Harold went through numerous printings within 1812 alone and further editions after Cantos III and IV appeared (1816 and 1818), a first-edition copy must be the two-canto March 1812 quarto; octavo copies, or copies containing more than two cantos, are later states or the later four-canto collected editions.

I have a first edition of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.