# Is "Far from the Madding Crowd" by Thomas Hardy a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy (Smith, Elder & Co., 1874) is identified by: Two volumes, title pages dated 1874, in publisher's cloth, in an impression of 1000 copies (first published anonymously as a serial in the Cornhill Magazine through 1874). The Smith, Elder two-volume edition is the first English book edition, but precedence over the American edition is genuinely contested rather than settled.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Two volumes, title pages dated 1874, in publisher's cloth, in an impression of 1000 copies (first published anonymously as a serial in the Cornhill Magazine through 1874)
- The London edition appeared in November 1874
- Publisher imprint reads Smith, Elder & Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Thomas Hardy |
| Publisher | Smith, Elder & Co. |
| Year | 1874 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Two volumes, title pages dated 1874, in publisher's cloth, in an impression of 1000 copies (first published anonymously as a serial in the… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Two volumes, title pages dated 1874, in publisher's cloth, in an impression of 1000 copies (first published anonymously as a serial in the Cornhill Magazine through 1874). The London edition appeared in November 1874.

## Is this the true first?
The Smith, Elder two-volume edition is the first English book edition, but precedence over the American edition is genuinely contested rather than settled. Henry Holt issued a one-volume American edition essentially simultaneously; Purdy records that the American edition carries advertisements dated 17 November 1874 while the London edition was published about 23 November 1874, so the American issue may actually precede the English. Treat which printing is the true first as unresolved.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
One-volume reprints and the later Osgood/Wessex collected editions are not the first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Far from the Madding Crowd* by Thomas Hardy a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/far-from-the-madding-crowd
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.