# Is "King Solomon's Mines" by H. Rider Haggard a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard (Cassell & Company, 1885) is identified by: Published by Cassell & Company, London, in September 1885, in a first printing of 2,000 copies: 1,500 bound in Britain with publisher's advertisements dated '5.8.85' at the rear, and 500 sheets shipped unbound to Cassell's New York office and bound there without the terminal ads.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Published by Cassell & Company, London, in September 1885, in a first printing of 2,000 copies: 1,500 bound in Britain with publisher's advertisements dated '5.8.85' at the rear, and 500 sheets shipped unbound to Cassell's New York office and bound there without the terminal ads
- The British-bound first issue is in original red cloth decoratively stamped in black on the upper board and spine, with the spine lettered in gilt, and includes a folding map at the front
- The uncorrected first-issue text contains the misprints 'Bamamgwato' for 'Bamangwato' (page 10, line 14), 'to let twins to live' for 'to let twins live' (page 122, line 27), and 'wrod' for 'word' (page 307, line 29)
- Publisher imprint reads Cassell & Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | H. Rider Haggard |
| Publisher | Cassell & Company |
| Year | 1885 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Published by Cassell & Company, London, in September 1885, in a first printing of 2,000 copies: 1,500 bound in Britain with publisher's… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Published by Cassell & Company, London, in September 1885, in a first printing of 2,000 copies: 1,500 bound in Britain with publisher's advertisements dated '5.8.85' at the rear, and 500 sheets shipped unbound to Cassell's New York office and bound there without the terminal ads. The British-bound first issue is in original red cloth decoratively stamped in black on the upper board and spine, with the spine lettered in gilt, and includes a folding map at the front. The uncorrected first-issue text contains the misprints 'Bamamgwato' for 'Bamangwato' (page 10, line 14), 'to let twins to live' for 'to let twins live' (page 122, line 27), and 'wrod' for 'word' (page 307, line 29).

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
A corrected later issue followed within months (identifiable by October, November, or December 1885 dates in the rear advertisements, versus the first issue's '5.8.85'), and any copy with an 1886-dated title page is a later reprint; cheap juvenile reprint-house editions (Collins' Clear-Type Press, Thomas Nelson, and similar) use simplified bindings and postdate 1885 by decades.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *King Solomon's Mines* by H. Rider Haggard a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/king-solomons-mines
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.