# Is "Evelina" by Frances Burney a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Evelina by Frances Burney (T. Lowndes, London, 1778) is identified by: First edition, published anonymously in January 1778: three volumes, 12mo (approx. A London original written in English, so no UK-versus-US and no original-language precedence question arises — the 1778 Lowndes three-volume set is the only true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, published anonymously in January 1778: three volumes, 12mo (approx
- 169 x 94 mm), signatures [A]2 a6 B-K12 L10; [A]12 B-L12; [A]12 B-L12
- The two standard identifying points are the errata on the verso of the last leaf of the preface and the publisher's advertisements present in each of the three volumes (Rothschild 545)
- The title-page reading is itself a point: the first and second editions read 'Evelina, or a Young Lady's Entrance into the World', while the longer 'or the History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World' belongs to the third edition of 1779 and after
- Bonhams has recorded variant type settings of pp
- 121-2 and 143-4 in volume III, catalogued as a previously unidentified state of the first edition; that is an open observation rather than a settled test, and should not be used on its own to reject a copy
- Publisher imprint reads T. Lowndes, London

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Frances Burney |
| Publisher | T. Lowndes, London |
| Year | 1778 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, published anonymously in January 1778: three volumes, 12mo (approx |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition, published anonymously in January 1778: three volumes, 12mo (approx. 169 x 94 mm), signatures [A]2 a6 B-K12 L10; [A]12 B-L12; [A]12 B-L12. The two standard identifying points are the errata on the verso of the last leaf of the preface and the publisher's advertisements present in each of the three volumes (Rothschild 545). The title-page reading is itself a point: the first and second editions read 'Evelina, or a Young Lady's Entrance into the World', while the longer 'or the History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World' belongs to the third edition of 1779 and after. Bonhams has recorded variant type settings of pp. 121-2 and 143-4 in volume III, catalogued as a previously unidentified state of the first edition; that is an open observation rather than a settled test, and should not be used on its own to reject a copy.

## Is this the true first?
A London original written in English, so no UK-versus-US and no original-language precedence question arises — the 1778 Lowndes three-volume set is the only true first. The anonymity is part of the identification: the first edition carries no author's name on the title page, Burney having concealed her authorship from Lowndes (the manuscript was delivered by her brother in disguise and copied out in a hand unlike her own). The census note's claim about the sum Burney received is biographical, not a point of issue, and is not an identification test.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issues exist for this title. The reprint trap is speed: the novel ran through roughly five editions by 1779, all under the same T. Lowndes London imprint, so an early Lowndes set is not automatically the first. The third edition (1779) is the easiest to eliminate on sight because its title page inserts 'the History of'; for the second edition, fall back on the errata leaf and the advertisement leaves.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Evelina* by Frances Burney a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/evelina
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.