Is My Madame Bovary a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Two volumes, Michel Lévy frères, Paris, 1857, issued in printed wrappers (green)
• The first-issue point is on the dedication leaf: Flaubert's defence counsel is misprinted "Senart" for "Sénard"; the later issue corrects the spelling
• Complete copies collate [iv], 232 and [iv], [233]-490, with half-titles and title pages to both volumes and the publisher's catalogue bound at the rear of volume I. Deluxe copies on heavy vellum paper are a separate format: they are in a single volume, without title page or half-title for the second part (Clouzot counts 75 such copies)

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. 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.
4. 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 French original is the true first — the census claim is correct. The novel was serialised in the Revue de Paris from 1 October to 15 December 1856, ahead of the Lévy book, but the serial is a periodical appearance and does not displace the 1857 two-volume first edition. The first edition in English is Eleanor Marx-Aveling's translation, Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners (London: Vizetelly & Co., 1886) — the first English translation to appear and the only one for many years; it is collected in its own right.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue in the period. The traps are "first thus": Lévy reissues with the dedication corrected to "Sénard"; the many later illustrated and "édition définitive" printings; and the 1886 Vizetelly translation catalogued as "first edition" when it is the first English, not the first. Modern reprints of the Marx-Aveling translation are everywhere.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Madame Bovary a first edition?

A first edition of Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (Michel Lévy frères, Paris) is identified by: Two volumes, Michel Lévy frères, Paris, 1857, issued in printed wrappers (green).

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 French original is the true first — the census claim is correct.

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

No book-club issue in the period. The traps are "first thus": Lévy reissues with the dedication corrected to "Sénard"; the many later illustrated and "édition définitive" printings; and the 1886 Vizetelly translation catalogued as "first edition" when it is the first English, not the first. Modern reprints of the Marx-Aveling translation are everywhere.

I have a first edition of Madame Bovary — 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.