# Is "East Lynne" by Mrs. Henry Wood (Ellen Wood) a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of East Lynne by Mrs. Henry Wood (Ellen Wood) (Richard Bentley, 1861) is identified by: First edition, three volumes, published 19 September 1861 after being rejected by Chapman and Hall (reader's report by George Meredith) and by Smith, Elder.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, three volumes, published 19 September 1861 after being rejected by Chapman and Hall (reader's report by George Meredith) and by Smith, Elder
- Bound in publisher's cloth; the true first can be checked against Sadleir 3333 and Wolff 7269 in standard bibliographies
- Because the novel's popularity produced numerous further editions within the year, first-edition copies must be checked carefully against the 1861 Bentley three-volume collation rather than any of the rapidly issued subsequent printings
- Publisher imprint reads Richard Bentley
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Mrs. Henry Wood (Ellen Wood) |
| Publisher | Richard Bentley |
| Year | 1861 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, three volumes, published 19 September 1861 after being rejected by Chapman and Hall (reader's report by George Meredith) and… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, three volumes, published 19 September 1861 after being rejected by Chapman and Hall (reader's report by George Meredith) and by Smith, Elder. Bound in publisher's cloth; the true first can be checked against Sadleir 3333 and Wolff 7269 in standard bibliographies. Because the novel's popularity produced numerous further editions within the year, first-edition copies must be checked carefully against the 1861 Bentley three-volume collation rather than any of the rapidly issued subsequent printings.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
By the later Victorian period East Lynne was reprinted constantly in cheap single-volume and yellowback formats; any copy not in the original three-volume Bentley cloth of 1861 is a later printing.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *East Lynne* by Mrs. Henry Wood (Ellen Wood) a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/east-lynne
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.