Is My Life on the Mississippi a First Edition?

The points of issue

• US first edition, James R. Osgood & Co., Boston, 1883
• The three classic first-state points are: the tailpiece on page 441 showing Mark Twain's head emerging from flames atop an urn (later suppressed at Mrs
• Clemens's request as too morbid); the caption on page 443 reading 'The St
• Louis Hotel'; and the uncorrected reading 'it it' on page 444
• Illustrated, issued in publisher's pictorial cloth

How James R. Osgood & Co. marked a first edition

• Follows the inherited Ticknor/Fields practice: no first-edition statement. Match the title-page date to the copyright date with no later printing noted.
• Dated rear advertisement/catalogue sections can aid printing priority within a title's issue.

Full James R. Osgood & Co. first-edition guide →

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 first (Osgood). The flaming-urn tailpiece on page 441 is the key earliest-state point. An intermediate state retains the page 441 tailpiece but corrects the page 443 caption to 'The St. Charles Hotel'; the latest state removes the tailpiece entirely. The contemporaneous Chatto & Windus London edition is a separate issue.P-020928

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later printings lack the page 441 flaming-head tailpiece and correct the page 443 caption and the 'it it' typo; absence of the tailpiece is the principal reprint tell.P-020929

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Life on the Mississippi a first edition?

A first edition of Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens) (James R. Osgood & Co.) is identified by: US first edition, James R.

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 first (Osgood).

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

Later printings lack the page 441 flaming-head tailpiece and correct the page 443 caption and the 'it it' typo; absence of the tailpiece is the principal reprint tell.

I have a first edition of Life on the Mississippi — 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.