Is My Frankenstein a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Three volumes, published anonymously (London: Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor & Jones, 1 January 1818), in an edition of 500 copies
• Each volume has its half-title
• Volume I carries the dedication leaf 'TO WILLIAM GODWIN… by the Author' and the unsigned preface written by Percy Bysshe Shelley, dated Marlow, September 1817
• All three title pages are dated 1818 and bear the epigraph from Paradise Lost ('Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay / To mould me man?…'), which was dropped from the 1823 and 1831 editions
• Issued in original boards (drab/blue-grey, a few copies pink) with printed paper spine labels
• Because there is a single 1818 issue, identification turns on completeness (all half-titles and the dedication leaf present) and the untouched original binding rather than on textual 'points'

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. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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 1818 three-volume first (anonymous, 500 copies, with Percy Shelley's preface and the Paradise Lost epigraph) is the true first. The 1823 second edition (2 volumes) is the first to name 'Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley' on the title page; the heavily revised 1831 one-volume Colburn & Bentley 'Standard Novels' edition supplies the now-standard text and Mary Shelley's new introduction but is a much later 'first thus'. The 1818 is one of the most celebrated of all literary first editions.P-037020

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The 1831 single-volume Colburn & Bentley 'Standard Novels' edition is frequently mistaken for an early first — it is a revised later text with a new frontispiece and introduction, not the 1818. Any one-volume copy, any copy naming Mary Shelley on the title page, or any copy lacking the Paradise Lost epigraph is not the 1818 first.P-037021

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Frankenstein a first edition?

A first edition of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor & Jones) is identified by: Three volumes, published anonymously (London: Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor & Jones, 1 January 1818), in an edition of 500 copies.

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 1818 three-volume first (anonymous, 500 copies, with Percy Shelley's preface and the Paradise Lost epigraph) is the true first.

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

The 1831 single-volume Colburn & Bentley 'Standard Novels' edition is frequently mistaken for an early first — it is a revised later text with a new frontispiece and introduction, not the 1818. Any one-volume copy, any copy naming Mary Shelley on the title page, or any copy lacking the Paradise Lost epigraph is not the 1818 first.

I have a first edition of Frankenstein — 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.