# Is "First Principles" by Herbert Spencer a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of First Principles by Herbert Spencer (Williams and Norgate, 1862) 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. 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.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- 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
- Publisher imprint reads Williams and Norgate

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Herbert Spencer |
| Publisher | Williams and Norgate |
| Year | 1862 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First issued to subscribers in six quarterly instalments of about eighty pages each, under a prospectus circulated in March 1860: Part I (pp |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## 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. 417-504) June 1862. These parts were then gathered into the first bound-book edition, London: Williams and Norgate, 1862, collating xii, 503 pages, published as Volume I of Spencer's projected 'A System of Synthetic Philosophy.' A correct first edition in book form carries the plain 1862 Williams and Norgate title page, without the 'revised' statement that appears on Spencer's later editions.

## 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.

## 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.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *First Principles* by Herbert Spencer a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/first-principles
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.