# Is "Majors and Minors" by Paul Laurence Dunbar a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Majors and Minors by Paul Laurence Dunbar (Hadley & Hadley, 1895) is identified by: The first edition, cataloged as BAL 4917, was printed by Hadley & Hadley of Toledo, Ohio, in 1895 and collates as an octavo of 148 pages.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The first edition, cataloged as BAL 4917, was printed by Hadley & Hadley of Toledo, Ohio, in 1895 and collates as an octavo of 148 pages
- It is bound in the publisher's gray cloth, the front board stamped and lettered in gilt, with a dark-stained top edge and floral-patterned endpapers, and it carries a frontispiece portrait of Dunbar
- The poems are again arranged in 'majors' (standard English) and 'minors' (dialect) sections
- William Dean Howells's review of this collection in Harper's Weekly brought Dunbar his first national notice and led directly to the Dodd, Mead trade edition of Lyrics of Lowly Life the following year
- Publisher imprint reads Hadley & Hadley
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Paul Laurence Dunbar |
| Publisher | Hadley & Hadley |
| Year | 1895 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The first edition, cataloged as BAL 4917, was printed by Hadley & Hadley of Toledo, Ohio, in 1895 and collates as an octavo of 148 pages |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The first edition, cataloged as BAL 4917, was printed by Hadley & Hadley of Toledo, Ohio, in 1895 and collates as an octavo of 148 pages. It is bound in the publisher's gray cloth, the front board stamped and lettered in gilt, with a dark-stained top edge and floral-patterned endpapers, and it carries a frontispiece portrait of Dunbar. The poems are again arranged in 'majors' (standard English) and 'minors' (dialect) sections; William Dean Howells's review of this collection in Harper's Weekly brought Dunbar his first national notice and led directly to the Dodd, Mead trade edition of Lyrics of Lowly Life the following year.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Majors and Minors* by Paul Laurence Dunbar a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/majors-and-minors
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.