Is My Discours de la méthode a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Leiden [Leyde]: Jan (Ian) Maire, 1637, small quarto (c.196 x 138 mm) — the census claim is confirmed
• Published ANONYMOUSLY: Descartes's name appears nowhere in the book, and that anonymity is itself a first-edition point
• Full title: 'Discours de la methode pour bien conduire sa raison, & chercher la verité dans les sciences
• Plus la dioptrique
• Les meteores
• Et la geometrie

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

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?

The French Leiden 1637 is the true first and precedes everything. The first Latin is separately collected: 'Renati Des Cartes Specimina philosophiae: seu Dissertatio de methodo…', Amsterdam: Louis Elzevir, 1644, translated by Étienne de Courcelles and revised by Descartes himself — notable as the first appearance of 'cogito ergo sum' in Latin (the French of 1637 reads 'je pense, donc je suis'). CENSUS NOTE CORRECTED: the claim that there was 'no English edition until much later' is wrong. The first English edition appeared within Descartes's own century — 'A Discourse of a Method for the Well Guiding of Reason, and the Discovery of Truth in the Sciences', London: printed by Thomas Newcombe, 1649. The 1637 French, the 1644 Latin and the 1649 English are all separately collected, with the 1637 the unambiguous first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club era applies to the 17th-century printings, and no book-club tells are documented. What actually turns up is 19th- and 20th-century French school and scholarly editions (Adam & Tannery among them) and English translations (Veitch; Haldane & Ross), plus Everyman, Penguin and Great Books series volumes — first thus at best, never the first edition.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Discours de la méthode a first edition?

A first edition of Discours de la méthode by René Descartes (Jan) is identified by: Leiden [Leyde]: Jan (Ian) Maire, 1637, small quarto (c.196 x 138 mm) — the census claim is confirmed.

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. The French Leiden 1637 is the true first and precedes everything.

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

No book-club era applies to the 17th-century printings, and no book-club tells are documented. What actually turns up is 19th- and 20th-century French school and scholarly editions (Adam & Tannery among them) and English translations (Veitch; Haldane & Ross), plus Everyman, Penguin and Great Books series volumes — first thus at best, never the first edition.

I have a first edition of Discours de la méthode — 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.