# Is "Essays: Second Series" by Ralph Waldo Emerson a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Essays: Second Series by Ralph Waldo Emerson (James Munroe and Company, 1844) is identified by: Published in Boston by James Munroe and Company in 1844 in dark brown, blind-stamped, vertically-ribbed cloth. Published in Boston by James Munroe and Company in 1844; an English edition followed the same year from John Chapman in London.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Published in Boston by James Munroe and Company in 1844 in dark brown, blind-stamped, vertically-ribbed cloth
- Myerson records four binding states (A-D) distinguished by cloth grain and color; state A alone is lettered "2D. SERIES." on the spine, while states B-D read "SECOND SERIES." Two separate 1844 printings exist with twenty-three minor textual differences catalogued by Myerson; because Munroe bound sheets from both printings together, nearly every surviving copy is a mix of the two, and copies composed wholly of first-printing sheets are scarce
- State A copies carry the most first-printing textual points and state D copies the fewest; the volume collates with 2pp of undated publisher's advertisements
- Publisher imprint reads James Munroe and Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Ralph Waldo Emerson |
| Publisher | James Munroe and Company |
| Year | 1844 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Published in Boston by James Munroe and Company in 1844 in dark brown, blind-stamped, vertically-ribbed cloth |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Published in Boston by James Munroe and Company in 1844 in dark brown, blind-stamped, vertically-ribbed cloth. Myerson records four binding states (A-D) distinguished by cloth grain and color; state A alone is lettered "2D. SERIES." on the spine, while states B-D read "SECOND SERIES." Two separate 1844 printings exist with twenty-three minor textual differences catalogued by Myerson; because Munroe bound sheets from both printings together, nearly every surviving copy is a mix of the two, and copies composed wholly of first-printing sheets are scarce. State A copies carry the most first-printing textual points and state D copies the fewest; the volume collates with 2pp of undated publisher's advertisements.

## Is this the true first?
Published in Boston by James Munroe and Company in 1844; an English edition followed the same year from John Chapman in London. The Boston Munroe printing is treated as the American first and carries the bibliographical points recorded here.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Emerson's two Essays series were later combined, reset, and revised for Houghton, Mifflin's Riverside and Complete Works editions beginning in the 1880s; these reprints do not reproduce the 1844 Munroe binding states, spine lettering, or the textual points Myerson records on pages 200, 309, and 313.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Essays: Second Series* by Ralph Waldo Emerson a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/essays-second-series
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.