Is My De Profundis a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition (trade issue): Methuen & Co., 36 Essex Street, London, February 1905, edited by Robert Ross
• Bound in gilt-decorated blue cloth (title and device in gilt on the upper cover and spine), collating 151 pp., with a 40-page publisher's catalogue at the rear dated February 1905 — the first-issue point; a later issue carries advertisements dated March 1905
• Separately, a large-paper issue was limited to 200 copies on handmade paper, with a further deluxe issue of fifty copies on japon in original limp vellum bearing gilt vignettes by Charles Ricketts; the Ricketts decoration belongs to these large-paper/vellum issues, NOT to the ordinary blue-cloth trade edition (a common conflation to avoid)
• The book was reprinted several times within 1905

How Methuen & Co., London marked a first edition

• Since 1905: state "First published in [Year]" or "First published in Great Britain [Year]" on the copyright page of firsts, with later printings noted

Full Methuen & Co., London 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. Verify this is the American true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. 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.
6. 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?

Methuen (London), February 1905 is the true first; the American G.P. Putnam's Sons edition also appeared in 1905 and followed. 'First thus' caution: this 1905 text is Robert Ross's heavily abridged/redacted version — the complete unexpurgated text was not published until 1962, so 'first edition' here means the 1905 Methuen abridgment, not the full work.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Rapidly reprinted within 1905 (second, third and later impressions the same year); later issues carry March-1905 or subsequent advertisements rather than the February 1905 catalogue. No book-club issue documented for the 1905 first.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of De Profundis a first edition?

A first edition of De Profundis by Oscar Wilde (Methuen & Co., London) is identified by: First edition (trade issue): Methuen & Co., 36 Essex Street, London, February 1905, edited by Robert Ross.

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. Methuen (London), February 1905 is the true first; the American G.P.

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

Rapidly reprinted within 1905 (second, third and later impressions the same year); later issues carry March-1905 or subsequent advertisements rather than the February 1905 catalogue. No book-club issue documented for the 1905 first.

I have a first edition of De Profundis — 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.