Is My Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Published by Seeley & Co., London, in November 1884 in an edition of 1,000 copies, with the title page reading 'Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions
• With Illustrations by the Author, A Square' - Abbott's name appears nowhere in the book
• The true first edition was issued in the publisher's original paper wrappers with an illustrated parchment/vellum jacket (collation [A]8 B-H8, edges untrimmed), not in cloth boards as sometimes described for later or American printings
• A second, textually revised edition with a new author's preface and emendations to the text and illustrations was issued by Seeley in December 1884, also dated 1884, so the 1884 date alone does not distinguish the true first setting of the text

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?

A revised 'new and revised edition,' also dated 1884, followed the first printing within weeks (December 1884), adding a preface and textual changes, so identification of the true first setting must rest on the wrappers-and-vellum-jacket format, collation, and absence of the preface, not the 1884 date alone.P-036171

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Because the original wrappers-and-vellum-jacket format is fragile, first and second 1884 printings survive mostly in poor condition; Basil Blackwell's 1926 third edition and all subsequent 20th-century reprints and paperback reissues are cloth- or paper-bound in different formats entirely, so binding and collation, not the pseudonymous 'A Square' byline (which reprints retained), distinguish a genuine 1884 Seeley first printing.P-036172

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions a first edition?

A first edition of Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott (Seeley & Co.) is identified by: Published by Seeley & Co., London, in November 1884 in an edition of 1,000 copies, with the title page reading 'Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions.

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. A revised 'new and revised edition,' also dated 1884, followed the first printing within weeks (December 1884), adding a preface and textual changes, so identification of the true first setting must rest on the wrappers-and-vellum-jacket format, collation, and absence of the preface, not the 1884 date alone.

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

Because the original wrappers-and-vellum-jacket format is fragile, first and second 1884 printings survive mostly in poor condition; Basil Blackwell's 1926 third edition and all subsequent 20th-century reprints and paperback reissues are cloth- or paper-bound in different formats entirely, so binding and collation, not the pseudonymous 'A Square' byline (which reprints retained), distinguish a genuine 1884 Seeley first printing.

I have a first edition of Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions — 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.