# Is "Maud, and Other Poems" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Maud, and Other Poems by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (Edward Moxon, 1855) is identified by: Small octavo collating viii, 154, (ii) pages, containing the first appearance in book form of "The Charge of the Light Brigade," previously printed in the Examiner newspaper (9 December 1854) and in a broadside privately issued for Crimean War soldiers.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Small octavo collating viii, 154, (ii) pages, containing the first appearance in book form of "The Charge of the Light Brigade," previously printed in the Examiner newspaper (9 December 1854) and in a broadside privately issued for Crimean War soldiers
- First printing, first issue lacks any publisher's advertisements; a first-edition, second-issue state has an 8-page Moxon catalogue dated August 1855 inserted at the front
- Bound in the publisher's original green cloth, blind-stamped on the covers with gilt lettering on the spine
- Publisher imprint reads Edward Moxon
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Alfred, Lord Tennyson |
| Publisher | Edward Moxon |
| Year | 1855 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | Small octavo collating viii, 154, (ii) pages, containing the first appearance in book form of "The Charge of the Light Brigade," previously… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Small octavo collating viii, 154, (ii) pages, containing the first appearance in book form of "The Charge of the Light Brigade," previously printed in the Examiner newspaper (9 December 1854) and in a broadside privately issued for Crimean War soldiers. First printing, first issue lacks any publisher's advertisements; a first-edition, second-issue state has an 8-page Moxon catalogue dated August 1855 inserted at the front. Bound in the publisher's original green cloth, blind-stamped on the covers with gilt lettering on the spine.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Cited in the trade as Hayward 248, Wise 58, and Tinker 2080; the presence, absence, and date of the inserted Moxon advertisement leaves is the practical way to place a given copy within the 1855 first-edition printing sequence.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Maud, and Other Poems* by Alfred, Lord Tennyson a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/maud-and-other-poems
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.