# Is "Lord Jim" by Joseph Conrad a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad (William Blackwood & Sons, 1900) is identified by: First edition in book form, first impression, 1900, octavo; bound in original green cloth with gilt titling on the spine and black titling on the front board, edges untrimmed. William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh and London, 1900 is the true first in book form, and the census's precedence direction is confirmed.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition in book form, first impression, 1900, octavo; bound in original green cloth with gilt titling on the spine and black titling on the front board, edges untrimmed
- The novel had been serialised in Blackwood's Magazine from October 1899 to November 1900, so the book is a first in book form only
- Three text points identify the first impression: on page 77, line 5, 'any rate' is printed as one word, 'anyrate'; on page 226, seven lines from the bottom, 'keep' is omitted after 'can' and 'cure' is printed for 'cured'; and on page 319, last line, 'his' is dropped slightly below the line and not aligned with the surrounding words
- No jacket points are documented for this title
- Publisher imprint reads William Blackwood & Sons
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Joseph Conrad |
| Publisher | William Blackwood & Sons |
| Year | 1900 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition in book form, first impression, 1900, octavo; bound in original green cloth with gilt titling on the spine and black titling… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition in book form, first impression, 1900, octavo; bound in original green cloth with gilt titling on the spine and black titling on the front board, edges untrimmed. The novel had been serialised in Blackwood's Magazine from October 1899 to November 1900, so the book is a first in book form only. Three text points identify the first impression: on page 77, line 5, 'any rate' is printed as one word, 'anyrate'; on page 226, seven lines from the bottom, 'keep' is omitted after 'can' and 'cure' is printed for 'cured'; and on page 319, last line, 'his' is dropped slightly below the line and not aligned with the surrounding words. No jacket points are documented for this title.

## Is this the true first?
William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh and London, 1900 is the true first in book form, and the census's precedence direction is confirmed. The first American is Doubleday & McClure Co., New York, 1900 (green cloth stamped in darker green, 392 pp.; Cagle A5b, Keating 27) — a distinct setting made from English proofs that Conrad neither revised nor corrected; by his own autograph note its text sits closer to the Blackwood's Magazine serial than to the English book. The American has two recorded states: the first-state copyright page reads '1900 by Doubleday, Page & Co.' and the second state reads '1899 and 1900 by Joseph Conrad'. The census's claim that Blackwood preceded New York 'by weeks' is NOT confirmed — no source consulted gave the American publication month, so state the precedence but not the interval.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No contemporaneous book-club edition is documented. Copies lacking the page 77 / 226 / 319 points are later impressions. Doubleday's long series of later reprints and the collected editions are 'first thus' and share the American, not the English, text.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Lord Jim* by Joseph Conrad a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/lord-jim
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.