Is My Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians a First Edition?

The points of issue

• London: published by the author, 1841, two volumes, title pages printed in red and black; the title page states "four hundred illustrations," but the plates are in fact 309 full-page engravings after Catlin's own paintings, plus three maps (one folding), irregularly numbered as issued and varying somewhat in count from copy to copy
• The plates are signed "G. Catlin" at lower left and "Tosswill & Myers," the London printing firm, at lower right
• A recognized first-issue point is the misprint "Frederick" on page 104 of volume one, flagged on an errata slip tipped into some copies after page viii and silently corrected in the printed text of later issues -- so the uncorrected "Frederick" reading identifies first-issue sheets whether or not the errata slip survives
• Catlin sold the book himself alongside admission to his traveling Indian Gallery exhibition at the Egyptian Hall, and surviving copies show a range of contemporary bindings, from original cloth to later rebindings in morocco

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. 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.
3. Verify this is the American true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
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?

Published first in London by Catlin himself in 1841; an authorized American edition, issued by Wiley and Putnam of New York, followed later in a different format.P-035586

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Numerous later 19th- and 20th-century reprints and abridgments (some retitled simply "North American Indians") are commonly sold under the popular name "Catlin's Indians" but are not the 1841 London first; they lack the red-and-black title pages and the plate-numbering irregularities of the first issue.P-035587

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians a first edition?

A first edition of Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians by George Catlin (Published by the Author, at the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly) is identified by: London: published by the author, 1841, two volumes, title pages printed in red and black; the title page states "four hundred illustrations," but the plates are in fact 309 full-page engravings after Catlin's own paintings, plus three maps (one folding), irregularly numbered as issued and varying somewhat in count from copy to copy.

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. Published first in London by Catlin himself in 1841; an authorized American edition, issued by Wiley and Putnam of New York, followed later in a different format.

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

Numerous later 19th- and 20th-century reprints and abridgments (some retitled simply "North American Indians") are commonly sold under the popular name "Catlin's Indians" but are not the 1841 London first; they lack the red-and-black title pages and the plate-numbering irregularities of the first issue.

I have a first edition of Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians — 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.