# Is "Erewhon" by Samuel Butler a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Erewhon by Samuel Butler (Trübner & Co., 1872) is identified by: Published anonymously; the true first printing, issued in the last days of March 1872, carries no preface.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Published anonymously; the true first printing, issued in the last days of March 1872, carries no preface
- Demand sold out this first printing within about three weeks, and because Butler had not had stereotype plates made, the book was reset and issued again the same year with, in Butler's own words, "a few unimportant alterations and additions" and a new preface -- so a copy that includes a preface, even though still dated 1872, is this second setting rather than the true first
- Original cloth is recorded as red-brick, blocked and stamped in black, with the title in gilt on the spine and brown endpapers
- Publisher imprint reads Trübner & Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Samuel Butler |
| Publisher | Trübner & Co. |
| Year | 1872 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Published anonymously; the true first printing, issued in the last days of March 1872, carries no preface |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Published anonymously; the true first printing, issued in the last days of March 1872, carries no preface. Demand sold out this first printing within about three weeks, and because Butler had not had stereotype plates made, the book was reset and issued again the same year with, in Butler's own words, "a few unimportant alterations and additions" and a new preface -- so a copy that includes a preface, even though still dated 1872, is this second setting rather than the true first. Original cloth is recorded as red-brick, blocked and stamped in black, with the title in gilt on the spine and brown endpapers.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Butler's name did not appear on the title page until the "new and revised edition" published by Grant Richards in 1901; any copy naming Butler as author on the title page is a later revised edition, not the anonymous 1872 Trübner original.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Erewhon* by Samuel Butler a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/erewhon
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.