Is My Leaves of Grass (1855 first edition) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Self-published first edition; the binder's records account for about 795 copies bound in stages between June 1855 and January 1856, in cloth and in plain wrappers/boards
• BAL/Blanck records three binding states, all genuine 1855 issues: Binding A — dark green cloth with a triple-ruled gilt border, blind-stamped floral ornaments, the title in gilt with rayed lettering, marbled endpapers and gilt edges (the earliest, June–July 1855)
• Binding B — the same cloth but with only the title goldstamped, borders and ornaments in blind, plain edges and plain (peach, buff or yellow) endpapers (later bindings, December 1855–January 1856)
• Binding C — plain paper wrappers/boards
• Some Binding B copies show the blind ornaments reversed at the centre of the covers, and every recorded copy with that reversal also contains the eight-page insertion of printed reviews and extracts (including notices Whitman wrote of himself anonymously) that he had bound into part of the remainder
• Quarto, about 95 pages: twelve untitled poems preceded by the prose preface; no author name on the title page (Whitman is named only within the text)

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. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. 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.
6. 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?

US true first, self-published 1855, sheets printed at the Rome brothers' (Andrew & James Rome) Brooklyn shop and distributed by the phrenological firm Fowler & Wells. All three binding states (A gilt cloth, B blindstamped cloth, C wrappers) and both frontispiece states are genuine 1855 copies; the elaborately gilt Binding A is the earliest and most sought binding, but a plainer Binding B or a wrappered Binding C copy is not a facsimile or a later edition. The distinct later editions — 1856; 1860 Thayer & Eldridge; 1867; 1871–72; 1881–82; and the 1891–92 'Deathbed' edition — are collected separately and must not be conflated with the 1855.P-037448

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Numerous facsimiles exist. Genuineness rests on the Rome-printed quarto sheets, the period cloth or wrappers, and the engraved-plate frontispiece states — NOT on the presence of gilt decoration: a genuine copy may be in gilt Binding A, in blindstamped Binding B, or in plain wrappers (Binding C). Facsimiles are betrayed by modern paper, photographic reproduction of the type and of the frontispiece plate, and the absence of period binding materials. No book-club reprint of the 1855 text is a first.P-037449

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Leaves of Grass (1855 first edition) a first edition?

A first edition of Leaves of Grass (1855 first edition) by Walt Whitman (Self-published, printed by Andrew & James Rome) is identified by: Self-published first edition; the binder's records account for about 795 copies bound in stages between June 1855 and January 1856, in cloth and in plain wrappers/boards.

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. US true first, self-published 1855, sheets printed at the Rome brothers' (Andrew & James Rome) Brooklyn shop and distributed by the phrenological firm Fowler & Wells.

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

Numerous facsimiles exist. Genuineness rests on the Rome-printed quarto sheets, the period cloth or wrappers, and the engraved-plate frontispiece states — NOT on the presence of gilt decoration: a genuine copy may be in gilt Binding A, in blindstamped Binding B, or in plain wrappers (Binding C). Facsimiles are betrayed by modern paper, photographic reproduction of the type and of the frontispiece plate, and the absence of period binding materials. No book-club reprint of the 1855 text is a first

I have a first edition of Leaves of Grass (1855 first edition) — 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.