# Is "Christabel; Kubla Khan, A Vision; The Pains of Sleep" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Christabel; Kubla Khan, A Vision; The Pains of Sleep by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (John Murray, printed by William Bulmer and Co., 1816) is identified by: First edition, issued 25 May 1816 under a printing contract for which Coleridge was paid by Murray, collating viii, 64pp, octavo, with the half-title present.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, issued 25 May 1816 under a printing contract for which Coleridge was paid by Murray, collating viii, 64pp, octavo, with the half-title present
- This pamphlet gives "Kubla Khan" and "The Pains of Sleep" their first printing alongside the unfinished narrative poem "Christabel," which had circulated only in manuscript among Coleridge's circle for nearly two decades before this, its first appearance in print
- The pamphlet went through three separate printings within 1816 itself, so a first-edition claim should be checked against a specialized Coleridge bibliography rather than relying on the 1816 date alone
- Publisher imprint reads John Murray, printed by William Bulmer and Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Samuel Taylor Coleridge |
| Publisher | John Murray, printed by William Bulmer and Co. |
| Year | 1816 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | First edition, issued 25 May 1816 under a printing contract for which Coleridge was paid by Murray, collating viii, 64pp, octavo, with the… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, issued 25 May 1816 under a printing contract for which Coleridge was paid by Murray, collating viii, 64pp, octavo, with the half-title present. This pamphlet gives "Kubla Khan" and "The Pains of Sleep" their first printing alongside the unfinished narrative poem "Christabel," which had circulated only in manuscript among Coleridge's circle for nearly two decades before this, its first appearance in print. The pamphlet went through three separate printings within 1816 itself, so a first-edition claim should be checked against a specialized Coleridge bibliography rather than relying on the 1816 date alone.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
"Christabel" was deliberately withheld from Coleridge's next verse collection, Sibylline Leaves (1817); a copy of Sibylline Leaves is a different book and not a later printing of the 1816 Christabel pamphlet.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Christabel; Kubla Khan, A Vision; The Pains of Sleep* by Samuel Taylor Coleridge a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/christabel-kubla-khan-a-vision-the-pains-of-sleep
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.