Is My Copy of Desperate Remedies a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition, Tinsley Brothers, London, 1871, in three volumes, published anonymously — Hardy's name appears nowhere in the book, the title page reading only 'Desperate Remedies
• In Three Volumes.' Published 25 March 1871 in an edition of 500 copies, produced at the author's own expense, Hardy having indemnified Tinsley against loss
• The original binding is red sandy-grained cloth, the covers with a three-rule border enclosing a scroll frame, the spines lettered and decorated in gilt
• Half-titles are present in all three volumes, and their presence in every volume is the collation point ABAA cataloguers insist upon; sets lacking them are made up or sophisticated
• Collation runs vi, 304; [vi], 291; vi, 274 pp., octavo, approximately 184 x 122 mm
• There is no edition or printing statement of any kind — this is a pre-number-line Victorian three-decker — so identification rests wholly on the Tinsley imprint, the 1871 date, the anonymity, the three-volume format, the complete half-titles, and, for the finest copies, the original cloth

How Tinsley Brothers marked a first edition

• No edition statement: a first is identified by the title-page date with no later-printing wording, complete in the correct number of volumes (usually three), with half-titles present.
• Inserted publisher's advertisement catalogue (often at the rear): dated ads not listing later titles support a first printing; Tinsley reused ad gatherings, so dating them is essential.

Full Tinsley Brothers 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. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
4. Verify this is the British 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?

Tinsley Brothers, London, 1871 is the true first — Hardy's first published book and first novel, and among the rarest of Victorian three-deckers, especially in original cloth. No competing British or American issue of 1871 exists. The first American edition is Henry Holt & Co., New York, 1874, in the Leisure Hour Series, three years later; no precedence question arises. Only the Tinsley three-volume set is the collected first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The title predates the book-club era entirely and no book-club issue exists. The reprint tell that matters most is structural: per Purdy the novel was never reprinted in its original three-volume form, so any three-decker other than Tinsley 1871 is not this book. The specific trap is that unsold sheets of the first edition were converted into a single-volume remainder issue — that remainder is the item most often mistaken for, or misdescribed as, the first. Later one-volume issues are common and are distinguished at once by the presence of Hardy's name on the title page and a later date.P-039623

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Desperate Remedies a first edition?

A first edition of Desperate Remedies by Thomas Hardy (Tinsley Brothers) is identified by: First edition, Tinsley Brothers, London, 1871, in three volumes, published anonymously — Hardy's name appears nowhere in the book, the title page reading only 'Desperate Remedies.

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

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). Tinsley Brothers, London, 1871 is the true first — Hardy's first published book and first novel, and among the rarest of Victorian three-deckers, especially in original cloth.

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

The title predates the book-club era entirely and no book-club issue exists. The reprint tell that matters most is structural: per Purdy the novel was never reprinted in its original three-volume form, so any three-decker other than Tinsley 1871 is not this book. The specific trap is that unsold sheets of the first edition were converted into a single-volume remainder issue — that remainder is the item most often mistaken for, or misdescribed as, the first.

I have a first edition of Desperate Remedies — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.