# Is "Incidents of Travel in Egypt, Arabia Petraea, and the Holy Land" by John L. Stephens a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Incidents of Travel in Egypt, Arabia Petraea, and the Holy Land by John L. Stephens (Harper & Brothers, 1837) is identified by: The true first edition was issued anonymously in two volumes octavo by Harper & Brothers, its title page reading 'By An American' rather than naming Stephens, and it was illustrated with a folding map and numerous full-page plates depicting scenes and monuments from Stephens's 1836 journey through Egypt, the Sinai, Petra, and Palestine. The true first edition was published in New York by Harper & Brothers in 1837; a 'new edition, with additions' followed from Richard Bentley in London in 1838 and postdates the American original.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first edition was issued anonymously in two volumes octavo by Harper & Brothers, its title page reading 'By An American' rather than naming Stephens, and it was illustrated with a folding map and numerous full-page plates depicting scenes and monuments from Stephens's 1836 journey through Egypt, the Sinai, Petra, and Palestine
- This was Stephens's first book, and its enthusiastic reception established him as a leading American travel writer
- Edgar Allan Poe's review in the New York Review, for one, praised the narrative's 'freshness of manner' and 'manliness of feeling' even while the title page withheld its author's name
- Its success directly led to Stephens's 1839-40 expedition with the English illustrator Frederick Catherwood, whom Stephens had met in London in 1836 but had not yet collaborated with, recounted in Stephens's celebrated 1841 sequel on Central America and Yucatan
- Publisher imprint reads Harper & Brothers
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | John L. Stephens |
| Publisher | Harper & Brothers |
| Year | 1837 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first edition was issued anonymously in two volumes octavo by Harper & Brothers, its title page reading 'By An American' rather… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The true first edition was issued anonymously in two volumes octavo by Harper & Brothers, its title page reading 'By An American' rather than naming Stephens, and it was illustrated with a folding map and numerous full-page plates depicting scenes and monuments from Stephens's 1836 journey through Egypt, the Sinai, Petra, and Palestine. This was Stephens's first book, and its enthusiastic reception established him as a leading American travel writer; Edgar Allan Poe's review in the New York Review, for one, praised the narrative's 'freshness of manner' and 'manliness of feeling' even while the title page withheld its author's name. Its success directly led to Stephens's 1839-40 expedition with the English illustrator Frederick Catherwood, whom Stephens had met in London in 1836 but had not yet collaborated with, recounted in Stephens's celebrated 1841 sequel on Central America and Yucatan.

## Is this the true first?
The true first edition was published in New York by Harper & Brothers in 1837; a 'new edition, with additions' followed from Richard Bentley in London in 1838 and postdates the American original.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Once Stephens's authorship became widely known, later Harper & Brothers printings and other nineteenth-century reprints openly credited 'John L. Stephens' on the title page; a title page naming Stephens outright, rather than reading 'By An American,' is not the true anonymous first issue.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Incidents of Travel in Egypt, Arabia Petraea, and the Holy Land* by John L. Stephens a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/incidents-of-travel-in-egypt-arabia-petraea-and-the-holy-lan
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.