Is My Don Quixote (El ingenioso hidalgo don Quixote de la Mancha) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Part I: Madrid, printed by Juan de la Cuesta for Francisco de Robles, 1605, quarto
• Part II: Madrid, Juan de la Cuesta, 1615
• The census claim is confirmed
• The decisive point is the privilege in the preliminaries: Robles bought the printing privilege for CASTILE ONLY, so the true first edition's preliminaries carry a Castilian privilege alone
• A second authorized Cuesta edition, also Madrid and also dated 1605, was rushed out after Robles secured additional privileges for Aragon and Portugal in February 1605 — those added privileges in the preliminaries are how the second Cuesta 1605 is separated from the first, since imprint, printer, city and year are otherwise identical
• Second textual point: the first edition does not narrate the theft and recovery of Sancho's ass (the 'hurto del rucio'); the second Cuesta 1605 edition inserts those passages, awkwardly placed, and Cervantes himself blames the printers for the muddle in Part II. The 1605 first is notoriously full of typographic and chapter-numbering errors, a consequence of hasty Spanish printing

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 Madrid Spanish originals (Cuesta 1605 / 1615) precede everything in every language and are the true first. Both the Spanish first and the first English are collected. The first English — and the first translation into ANY language — is Thomas Shelton's 'The History of the Valorous and Wittie Knight-Errant, Don-Quixote of the Mancha', London: printed by William Stansby for Ed. Blount and W. Barret, 1612 (STC 4915); Shelton's Part II followed, London, printed for Edward Blount, 1620. A trap worth knowing: Shelton did not translate from either authorized Madrid 1605 edition but from the unauthorized Spanish edition published at Brussels in 1607. The 18th-century Motteux (1700-03) and Jarvis (1742) versions are 'first thus' translations only, never the first edition of the work.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club era applies to the 17th-century printings. The contemporary traps are the 1605 piracies — two Lisbon editions and one Valencia edition (approbation dated 18 July 1605) — all dated 1605 and all regularly mislabeled as 'the 1605 first edition'; none is. In practice essentially every copy encountered is a 19th- or 20th-century English translation or an illustrated reprint (Motteux, Jarvis, Ormsby, Limited Editions Club/Heritage, Easton, Franklin), i.e. first-thus at best.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Don Quixote (El ingenioso hidalgo don Quixote de la Mancha) a first edition?

A first edition of Don Quixote (El ingenioso hidalgo don Quixote de la Mancha) by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (Juan de la Cuesta for the bookseller Francisco de Robles, Madrid) is identified by: Part I: Madrid, printed by Juan de la Cuesta for Francisco de Robles, 1605, quarto; Part II: Madrid, Juan de la Cuesta, 1615.

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 Madrid Spanish originals (Cuesta 1605 / 1615) precede everything in every language and are the true first.

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

No book-club era applies to the 17th-century printings. The contemporary traps are the 1605 piracies — two Lisbon editions and one Valencia edition (approbation dated 18 July 1605) — all dated 1605 and all regularly mislabeled as 'the 1605 first edition'; none is. In practice essentially every copy encountered is a 19th- or 20th-century English translation or an illustrated reprint (Motteux, Jarvis, Ormsby, Limited Editions Club/Heritage, Easton, Franklin), i.e. first-thus at best.

I have a first edition of Don Quixote (El ingenioso hidalgo don Quixote de la Mancha) — 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.