Is My Felix Holt, the Radical a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition in three volumes, Edinburgh & London: William Blackwood & Sons, 1866, with half-titles present and 4 pages of integral publisher's advertisements (no catalogue) at the rear of volume III. The publisher's binding is sand-grained cinnamon cloth, covers blocked in blind and spines lettered and ruled in gilt, edges untrimmed, with pale yellow coated endpapers
• Standard references: Sadleir 814
• Wolff 2058
• Baker & Ross A8.1

How William Blackwood & Sons marked a first edition

• No explicit edition statement on Victorian firsts: identify by title-page date, absence of 'New Edition' wording, correct imprint ('William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London'), and complete volumes with half-title…
• Many Blackwood novels first appeared serially in Blackwood's Magazine before book form — confirm the first BOOK edition versus the serial and versus cheaper later reissues.

Full William Blackwood & Sons first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
4. Verify this is the American true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
6. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

The Blackwood three-decker is the true first. The English edition precedes/is concurrent with the first American edition (Harper & Brothers, New York, 1866); the London edition is the collected first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

John Carter recorded five binding variants lettered A-E: A, B and C are regarded as simultaneous primary bindings with no priority established, and D and E follow. No book-club issue bears on the 1866 first; later Blackwood Cabinet and collected-set printings are reprints.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Felix Holt, the Radical a first edition?

A first edition of Felix Holt, the Radical by George Eliot (William Blackwood & Sons) is identified by: First edition in three volumes, Edinburgh & London: William Blackwood & Sons, 1866, with half-titles present and 4 pages of integral publisher's advertisements (no catalogue) at the rear of volume III.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. The Blackwood three-decker is the true first.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

John Carter recorded five binding variants lettered A-E: A, B and C are regarded as simultaneous primary bindings with no priority established, and D and E follow. No book-club issue bears on the 1866 first; later Blackwood Cabinet and collected-set printings are reprints.

I have a first edition of Felix Holt, the Radical — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.