# Is "Le Père Goriot" by Honoré de Balzac a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Le Père Goriot by Honoré de Balzac (Werdet et Spachmann, 1835) is identified by: Two volumes in-8, 'Librairie de Werdet, Spachmann, éditeur', Paris, 1835; approx. The census claim needs correcting on the imprint: it is not 'Werdet, Paris' alone but a co-edition, 'Werdet, Spachmann' — Jakob-Friedrich Spachmann, a binder of Württemberg origin established in the rue Coquenard and Balzac's own regular binder, co-financed the book and appears on the title.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Two volumes in-8, 'Librairie de Werdet, Spachmann, éditeur', Paris, 1835; approx
- 194 x 121 mm; issued in printed wrappers; registered in the Bibliographie de la France on 14 March 1835
- Volumes collate 354 and 376 pp (some catalogues cite 360 and 380, counting preliminaries)
- Print run 1,200 copies
- The decisive point of issue is the preface: it was not ready when the volumes went out, and the 1,200 copies were distributed without it
- Dated 'Paris, mars 1835', the preface first appeared in the Revue de Paris installment of Sunday 8 March 1835 and was printed for the book as a separate opening gathering afterwards
- Publisher imprint reads Werdet et Spachmann

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Honoré de Balzac |
| Publisher | Werdet et Spachmann |
| Year | 1835 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Two volumes in-8, 'Librairie de Werdet, Spachmann, éditeur', Paris, 1835; approx |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Two volumes in-8, 'Librairie de Werdet, Spachmann, éditeur', Paris, 1835; approx. 194 x 121 mm; issued in printed wrappers; registered in the Bibliographie de la France on 14 March 1835. Volumes collate 354 and 376 pp (some catalogues cite 360 and 380, counting preliminaries). Print run 1,200 copies. The decisive point of issue is the preface: it was not ready when the volumes went out, and the 1,200 copies were distributed without it. Dated 'Paris, mars 1835', the preface first appeared in the Revue de Paris installment of Sunday 8 March 1835 and was printed for the book as a separate opening gathering afterwards. Christie's records it as having been 'imprimée postérieurement et qui manque souvent' — printed subsequently and frequently absent. Its presence marks the complete state; its absence does not disqualify a copy as the original edition. Carteret I, 70; Vicaire I, 199.

## Is this the true first?
The census claim needs correcting on the imprint: it is not 'Werdet, Paris' alone but a co-edition, 'Werdet, Spachmann' — Jakob-Friedrich Spachmann, a binder of Württemberg origin established in the rue Coquenard and Balzac's own regular binder, co-financed the book and appears on the title. Serialisation in the Revue de Paris in four installments (14 and 28 December 1834, 18 January and 1 February 1835) preceded the volumes, but periodical appearance does not carry book precedence. The French first is the only edition with precedence; no contemporary English edition competes. Later authorial texts are 'first thus' only: the 1839 Charpentier edition suppressed prefaces, and the text was revised again for the Furne Comédie humaine.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue applies to an 1835 Paris imprint. The practical tells are later French reissues under the Charpentier imprint (1839 onward) and the Furne Comédie humaine text, neither carrying the Werdet/Spachmann title. Copies wanting the preface gathering are common and are not, on that ground, reprints.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Le Père Goriot* by Honoré de Balzac a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/le-p-re-goriot
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.