# Is "Hard Times. For These Times" by Charles Dickens a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Hard Times. For These Times by Charles Dickens (Bradbury and Evans, London, 1854) is identified by: First edition in book form, one volume, published 7 August 1854; Hard Times and Great Expectations are the only Dickens novels issued without illustrations. The census claim is correct as to publisher and year but should be stated precisely: the true first APPEARANCE is the serialization in Household Words (1 April - 12 August 1854), and uniquely among the mature novels there was no separate monthly-parts issue, so the 1854 Bradbury & Evans one-volume book IS the first edition in book form - the phrase every major catalog uses.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition in book form, one volume, published 7 August 1854
- Hard Times and Great Expectations are the only Dickens novels issued without illustrations
- The publisher's primary binding (first of four recorded binding states) is horizontally-ribbed olive-green moire cloth, covers with blind-stamped double-rule and internal ornamental rectangular frame, spine lettered in gilt with blind decoration and reading 'Price 5/-' at the foot, yellow endpapers
- First issue has page 244 misnumbered '44'
- Copies routinely show mixed textual states: Sotheby's records a copy with text on pp
- 12, 16, 86, 108, 122, 147 and 244 corrected while pp
- Publisher imprint reads Bradbury and Evans, London

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Charles Dickens |
| Publisher | Bradbury and Evans, London |
| Year | 1854 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition in book form, one volume, published 7 August 1854 |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition in book form, one volume, published 7 August 1854; Hard Times and Great Expectations are the only Dickens novels issued without illustrations. The publisher's primary binding (first of four recorded binding states) is horizontally-ribbed olive-green moire cloth, covers with blind-stamped double-rule and internal ornamental rectangular frame, spine lettered in gilt with blind decoration and reading 'Price 5/-' at the foot, yellow endpapers. First issue has page 244 misnumbered '44'. Copies routinely show mixed textual states: Sotheby's records a copy with text on pp. 12, 16, 86, 108, 122, 147 and 244 corrected while pp. 60, 231 and 265 remain uncorrected, so the internal states recorded by Smith are the collation test rather than a single all-or-nothing point. Referenced as Smith I:11 (primary binding), Gimbel A136, Sadleir 689, Eckel p. 96. Dedicated to Thomas Carlyle. No dust jacket was issued at this date.

## Is this the true first?
The census claim is correct as to publisher and year but should be stated precisely: the true first APPEARANCE is the serialization in Household Words (1 April - 12 August 1854), and uniquely among the mature novels there was no separate monthly-parts issue, so the 1854 Bradbury & Evans one-volume book IS the first edition in book form - the phrase every major catalog uses. There is a genuine Anglo-American precedence wrinkle the census omits: the London book form (7 August 1854) precedes both American editions - T. L. McElrath, New York (8 August 1854), who paid for advance sheets, and Harper & Brothers, New York (9 August 1854), who typeset from McElrath to undercut him a day later. McElrath is the first American edition; the Harper cloth issue is a later Harper printing and is only 'first American edition bound in cloth' (a first-thus trap). London holds precedence outright.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue at this date. The trap here is the later binding states and the 'first thus' American issues: the Harper cloth-bound copies are described by dealers as the second Harper edition, preceded by the McElrath and Harper wrappers editions, and are not the true first. Copies outside the horizontally-ribbed olive-green moire primary binding with 'Price 5/-' gilt at spine foot are later binding states. Household Words serial parts extracted and bound up are not the book edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Hard Times. For These Times* by Charles Dickens a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/hard-times-for-these-times
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.