Is My Jorrocks's Jaunts and Jollities a First Edition?

The points of issue

• True first edition in book form, published by Walter Spiers in London in 1838, collecting sketches that had first appeared unillustrated in the New Sporting Magazine between 1831 and 1834
• The first edition is octavo, running to 358 pages, and illustrated with twelve plates by 'Phiz' (Hablot Knight Browne), issued in the publisher's gilt-blocked cloth
• The far more famous edition with hand-colored aquatint plates by Henry Alken is not a variant of this book but a wholly separate second edition, published by Rudolph Ackermann in 1843 with a different illustrator, publisher, and set of plates

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. 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. 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.
5. 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?

Book-form publication began with this 1838 Spiers edition; the unillustrated magazine sketches that preceded it in the New Sporting Magazine (1831-1834) do not constitute prior book publication. The Alken-illustrated edition of 1843 is a distinct later second edition, not a suppressed or alternate state of the 1838 first.P-034935

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The edition most often associated with the title in the market -- with hand-colored aquatint plates by Henry Alken -- is the 1843 Ackermann second edition, not the 1838 Spiers true first, which carries plates by Phiz instead. A separately withdrawn Alken portrait plate of Jorrocks, 'A Citizen of Credit and Renown,' is known from only one located example and belongs to that later 1843 edition; it has no bearing on identifying a genuine 1838 first.P-034936

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Jorrocks's Jaunts and Jollities a first edition?

A first edition of Jorrocks's Jaunts and Jollities by Robert Smith Surtees (Walter Spiers) is identified by: True first edition in book form, published by Walter Spiers in London in 1838, collecting sketches that had first appeared unillustrated in the New Sporting Magazine between 1831 and 1834.

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. Book-form publication began with this 1838 Spiers edition; the unillustrated magazine sketches that preceded it in the New Sporting Magazine (1831-1834) do not constitute prior book publication.

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

The edition most often associated with the title in the market -- with hand-colored aquatint plates by Henry Alken -- is the 1843 Ackermann second edition, not the 1838 Spiers true first, which carries plates by Phiz instead. A separately withdrawn Alken portrait plate of Jorrocks, 'A Citizen of Credit and Renown,' is known from only one located example and belongs to that later 1843 edition; it has no bearing on identifying a genuine 1838 first.

I have a first edition of Jorrocks's Jaunts and Jollities — 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.