Is My Copy of Little Dorrit a First Edition?

The points of issue

• True first is the serial issue in publisher's blue printed pictorial wrappers, 20 numbers bound as 19 monthly parts (the last a double number), December 1855 - June 1857; each part, including the final double part, carrying its printed price. Complete sets have an etched frontispiece, additional pictorial title and 38 plates by Hablot K. Browne ('Phiz'), including 8 'dark plates' - 40 etchings in all
• The cardinal first-issue point is textual: in No. XV the character Blandois is misnamed 'Rigaud' on pp. 469, 470, 472 and 473 (Borg Antiquarian and Buddenbrooks both give this four-page set
• Bonhams cites 469, 470 and 473, so sources differ on whether 472 is counted - the point itself is not in doubt)
• An explanatory correction slip was inserted in No. XVI and is found laid in at p. 467
• Supporting points: 'William' for 'Frederick' at p. 317, line 27, and the three-line errata at p. xiv
• Completeness of the Little Dorrit Advertiser and inserted slips is judged against Hatton & Cleaver

How Bradbury and Evans, London marked a first edition

• Originally printers who became publishers: 19th-century firsts carry no edition statement — use title-page date, absence of any later-printing notice, and correct imprint.
• For Dickens novels issued in monthly parts, the true 'first' is the original part-issue (paper wrappers, with the correct inserted advertisements/'Dickens advertiser' and plates in the right states) — the bound first…

Full Bradbury and Evans, London first-edition guide →

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 UK 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?

The parts precede the book: the true first edition is the parts issue of December 1855 - June 1857, not the 1857 volume. Correct the count too - 'twenty monthly parts' is imprecise; it is 20 numbers issued in 19 monthly parts, the last being a double number (19/20). Both states are collected: (1) the 19/20 parts in original blue wrappers, and (2) the first one-volume edition, Bradbury and Evans, 1857, made up largely from the parts sheets and carrying the same textual points ('Rigaud' at pp. 469/470/472/473, 'William' for 'Frederick' at p. 317). No competing UK or American edition holds precedence over the London parts.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue at this date. The standing traps are made-up sets and rebound parts: sets lacking the Advertiser leaves and inserted slips called for by Hatton & Cleaver, parts with restored or facsimile wrappers, and volumes bound up from parts sheets after the fact. Copies with 'Blandois' reading correctly at pp. 469-473 are the later, corrected state, not the first issue. Later Chapman & Hall reissues and collected-edition printings are not the first.P-041493

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Little Dorrit a first edition?

A first edition of Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens (Bradbury and Evans, London) is identified by: True first is the serial issue in publisher's blue printed pictorial wrappers, 20 numbers bound as 19 monthly parts (the last a double number), December 1855 - June 1857; each part, including the final double part, carrying its printed price. Complete sets have an etched frontispiece, additional pictorial title and 38 plates by Hablot K. Browne ('Phiz'), including 8 'dark plates' - 40 etchings in all.

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. The parts precede the book: the true first edition is the parts issue of December 1855 - June 1857, not the 1857 volume.

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

No book-club issue at this date. The standing traps are made-up sets and rebound parts: sets lacking the Advertiser leaves and inserted slips called for by Hatton & Cleaver, parts with restored or facsimile wrappers, and volumes bound up from parts sheets after the fact. Copies with 'Blandois' reading correctly at pp. 469-473 are the later, corrected state, not the first issue. Later Chapman & Hall reissues and collected-edition printings are not the first.

I have a first edition of Little Dorrit — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.