Is My First Principles a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First issued to subscribers in six quarterly instalments of about eighty pages each, under a prospectus circulated in March 1860: Part I (pp
• 1-80) October 1860, Part II (pp
• 81-176) January 1861, Part III (pp
• 177-256) April 1861, Part IV (pp
• 257-334) October 1861, Part V (pp
• 335-416) March 1862, and Part VI (pp

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

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. 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.
5. 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 work was issued to subscribers in six quarterly parts between October 1860 and June 1862, under a prospectus circulated in March 1860, before being gathered into the first bound-book edition of 1862; both the parts and the 1862 book collection predate Spencer's later revised editions.P-035750

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Do not confuse the plain 1862 first edition with Spencer's subsequent revised editions of First Principles, culminating in the sixth and final edition of 1900 (revised by the author, D. Appleton and Company), whose title pages carry an explicit revision statement absent from the 1862 original.P-035751

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of First Principles a first edition?

A first edition of First Principles by Herbert Spencer (Williams and Norgate) is identified by: First issued to subscribers in six quarterly instalments of about eighty pages each, under a prospectus circulated in March 1860: Part I (pp.

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 work was issued to subscribers in six quarterly parts between October 1860 and June 1862, under a prospectus circulated in March 1860, before being gathered into the first bound-book edition of 1862; both the parts and the 1862 book collection predate Spencer's later revised editions.

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

Do not confuse the plain 1862 first edition with Spencer's subsequent revised editions of First Principles, culminating in the sixth and final edition of 1900 (revised by the author, D. Appleton and Company), whose title pages carry an explicit revision statement absent from the 1862 original.

I have a first edition of First Principles — 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.