# Is "Lady Audley's Secret" by Mary Elizabeth Braddon a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon (Tinsley Brothers, 1862) is identified by: First edition in book form, three volumes, post-octavo, published October 1862 following partial serialization in Robin Goodfellow and complete serialization in the Sixpenny Magazine.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition in book form, three volumes, post-octavo, published October 1862 following partial serialization in Robin Goodfellow and complete serialization in the Sixpenny Magazine
- Volume one carries a dedication to Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, thanking him for literary advice generously given to the author
- First editions should be checked against the original Tinsley Brothers three-volume collation and binding rather than the numerous editions issued within months of publication (it went through nine separate editions before the end of 1862 alone)
- Publisher imprint reads Tinsley Brothers
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Mary Elizabeth Braddon |
| Publisher | Tinsley Brothers |
| Year | 1862 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition in book form, three volumes, post-octavo, published October 1862 following partial serialization in Robin Goodfellow and… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition in book form, three volumes, post-octavo, published October 1862 following partial serialization in Robin Goodfellow and complete serialization in the Sixpenny Magazine. Volume one carries a dedication to Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, thanking him for literary advice generously given to the author. First editions should be checked against the original Tinsley Brothers three-volume collation and binding rather than the numerous editions issued within months of publication (it went through nine separate editions before the end of 1862 alone).

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Braddon revised the text as early as the Tinsley third edition of 1862, reworking the plot resolution in volume three, and the novel continued to be reprinted, eventually in cheap one-volume formats, for decades afterward; none of these later editions or reprints should be mistaken for the true first-edition Tinsley three-decker of October 1862.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Lady Audley's Secret* by Mary Elizabeth Braddon a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/lady-audleys-secret
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.