# Is "Iola Leroy, or Shadows Uplifted" by Frances E.W. Harper a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Iola Leroy, or Shadows Uplifted by Frances E.W. Harper (Garrigues Brothers, 1892) is identified by: The true first edition's title page reads 'Philadelphia: Garrigues Brothers, 1892.' It is bound in the publisher's cloth with gilt decoration on the spine and front board, over yellow floral endpapers. The Garrigues Brothers, Philadelphia, 1892 printing has priority; a James H.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first edition's title page reads 'Philadelphia: Garrigues Brothers, 1892.' It is bound in the publisher's cloth with gilt decoration on the spine and front board, over yellow floral endpapers
- A second Garrigues Brothers printing followed in 1893, and a competing Boston printing under James H. Earle's imprint — sometimes also dated 1892 on its title page but explicitly stated 'third edition' — followed after 1893, with a fourth Earle printing dated 1895
- Publisher imprint reads Garrigues Brothers
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Frances E.W. Harper |
| Publisher | Garrigues Brothers |
| Year | 1892 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first edition's title page reads 'Philadelphia: Garrigues Brothers, 1892.' It is bound in the publisher's cloth with gilt… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The true first edition's title page reads 'Philadelphia: Garrigues Brothers, 1892.' It is bound in the publisher's cloth with gilt decoration on the spine and front board, over yellow floral endpapers. A second Garrigues Brothers printing followed in 1893, and a competing Boston printing under James H. Earle's imprint — sometimes also dated 1892 on its title page but explicitly stated 'third edition' — followed after 1893, with a fourth Earle printing dated 1895.

## Is this the true first?
The Garrigues Brothers, Philadelphia, 1892 printing has priority; a James H. Earle, Boston edition dated 1892 on its title page is nonetheless the later 'third edition,' so the 1892 date alone does not guarantee a first edition.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The novel was reissued in facsimile as part of the Schomburg Library of Nineteenth-Century Black Women Writers (Oxford University Press, cloth 1988 and paperback 1990, introduction by Frances Smith Foster); neither modern facsimile reprint is a 19th-century first edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Iola Leroy, or Shadows Uplifted* by Frances E.W. Harper a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/iola-leroy-or-shadows-uplifted
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.