# Is "Eugene Aram: A Tale" by Edward Bulwer-Lytton a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Eugene Aram: A Tale by Edward Bulwer-Lytton (Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, 1832) is identified by: First edition (Sadleir 404), three volumes 12mo, collating xxi,[1],299,[1]; [4],308; [4],306,[2].

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition (Sadleir 404), three volumes 12mo, collating xxi,[1],299,[1]; [4],308; [4],306,[2]. Two pages of advertisements dated 1 January 1832 are bound in at the back of volume III. Original binding is drab paper-covered boards with a printed paper spine label -- not cloth, as sometimes misdescribed
- The novel is dedicated to Sir Walter Scott and was published anonymously, identified on the title page only as 'by the author of Pelham, Devereux, &c.'
- Publisher imprint reads Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Edward Bulwer-Lytton |
| Publisher | Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley |
| Year | 1832 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition (Sadleir 404), three volumes 12mo, collating xxi,[1],299,[1]; [4],308; [4],306,[2]. Two pages of advertisements dated 1… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition (Sadleir 404), three volumes 12mo, collating xxi,[1],299,[1]; [4],308; [4],306,[2]. Two pages of advertisements dated 1 January 1832 are bound in at the back of volume III. Original binding is drab paper-covered boards with a printed paper spine label -- not cloth, as sometimes misdescribed. The novel is dedicated to Sir Walter Scott and was published anonymously, identified on the title page only as 'by the author of Pelham, Devereux, &c.'

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Bulwer-Lytton later revised the novel for a subsequent edition, recasting Aram's own confession so that he is an accomplice to Daniel Clarke's murder rather than its perpetrator, and adding a new preface defending the change; that altered confession, not the 1832 first edition's original ending, underlies most later reprints.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Eugene Aram: A Tale* by Edward Bulwer-Lytton a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/eugene-aram-a-tale
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.