# Is "Little Dorrit" by Charles Dickens a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens (Bradbury and Evans, London, 1855) 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 the printed price, the final double part the printed price Complete sets have an etched frontispiece, additional pictorial title and 38 plates by Hablot K. The census is right that the parts precede the book but mis-states the true-first year as 1857: the true first edition is the parts issue of December 1855 - June 1857, not the 1857 volume.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- 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 the printed price, the final double part the 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
- Publisher imprint reads Bradbury and Evans, London

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Charles Dickens |
| Publisher | Bradbury and Evans, London |
| Year | 1855 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | True first is the serial issue in publisher's blue printed pictorial wrappers, 20 numbers bound as 19 monthly parts (the last a double… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## 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 the printed price, the final double part the 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. Referenced as Gimbel A140 (parts), Gimbel A141 (first one-volume edition), Hatton & Cleaver, Eckel. No dust jacket was issued at this date.

## Is this the true first?
The census is right that the parts precede the book but mis-states the true-first year as 1857: 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.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Little Dorrit* by Charles Dickens a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/little-dorrit
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.