Is My Hereditary Genius: An Inquiry into Its Laws and Consequences a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition, collating vi, 390 pages, with a half-title, an errata leaf, 2 folding charts, and numerous statistical tables
• Bound in publisher's original red cloth, spine lettered in gilt, with a gilt design stamped on the front cover
• Galton's preface claims priority in treating hereditary ability statistically and in introducing the 'law of deviation from an average' into the subject

How Macmillan and Co. marked a first edition

• FIRM SPLIT FIRST — this is the master rule. 'Macmillan' is not one publisher. The London parent was founded in 1843 by Daniel and Alexander Macmillan; George Edward Brett opened the New York office in 1869; in 1896 the f…
• US Macmillan, pre-late-1800s: no printing statement was used. Treat the book as a first only when the date on the TITLE page matches the last (latest) date on the copyright page. A title-page year EARLIER than the latest…

Full Macmillan and Co. first-edition guide →

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. Verify this is the American true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. 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.
6. 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 1869 Macmillan and Co. London edition described here is the true first; a first American edition followed in 1870 from D. Appleton and Company of New York and is a later, secondary printing.P-035655

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Galton did not substantially rewrite the book for its 1892 second edition: in his own preface to that printing he states he left the 1869 text essentially as first published rather than recast it, limiting himself to minor corrections and a handful of amendments, and added a lengthy new prefatory chapter responding to the intervening years' developments and critics. A title page dated 1892 or reading 'Second Edition' identifies this later printing, distinguished from the 1869 first chiefly by that added preface rather than by a rewritten body text.P-035656

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Hereditary Genius: An Inquiry into Its Laws and Consequences a first edition?

A first edition of Hereditary Genius: An Inquiry into Its Laws and Consequences by Francis Galton (Macmillan and Co.) is identified by: First edition, collating vi, 390 pages, with a half-title, an errata leaf, 2 folding charts, and numerous statistical tables.

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 1869 Macmillan and Co.

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

Galton did not substantially rewrite the book for its 1892 second edition: in his own preface to that printing he states he left the 1869 text essentially as first published rather than recast it, limiting himself to minor corrections and a handful of amendments, and added a lengthy new prefatory chapter responding to the intervening years' developments and critics. A title page dated 1892 or reading 'Second Edition' identifies this later printing, distinguished from the 1869 first chiefly by th

I have a first edition of Hereditary Genius: An Inquiry into Its Laws and Consequences — 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.