Is My Micrographia: or Some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Title page printed in red and black, imprint of John Martyn and James Allestry, Printers to the Royal Society, dated MDCLXV — the Roman date on the title is the primary check and it must read MDCLXV, not MDCLXVII. The privilege/imprimatur leaf precedes the text (the book was presented to the Royal Society on 23 November 1664 and issued in January 1665); it is frequently found mounted on a stub or missing
• Called for are 38 engraved plates, of which 12 are folding or double-page — these include the famous large folding flea and louse
• The plates must be collated complete and checked for cropped plate numbers and shaved images, a common defect
• Text runs to 246 pp. plus preface and index, arranged as sixty Observations
• Strong, unpressed plate impressions distinguish early pulls
• References: Wing H2620

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?

London 1665 is the true first and the census claim is correct — there is no foreign or earlier edition, the book was written and printed in English. The census's note on a 1667 appearance is essentially right and worth keeping: copies dated MDCLXVII exist, put out with a new title page from the same setting and the same copperplates. Sources consulted differ on whether the 1667 is strictly a reissue of remaining sheets with a cancel title or a re-impression, so state the title-page date rather than the mechanism. The 1667 is not a first edition under either account.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition. The dominant reprint tell is Henry Baker's Micrographia Restaurata (London, 1745), which reprints Hooke's original copperplates — their third impression — surrounded by Baker's own text. It is a different book by a different author and is routinely mistaken for Hooke's; check the title page and the author's name. Loose Micrographia plates in circulation are commonly pulled from Micrographia Restaurata or from modern facsimiles rather than from 1665 sheets.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Micrographia: or Some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses a first edition?

A first edition of Micrographia: or Some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses by Robert Hooke (John Martyn and James Allestry, Printers to the Royal Society, London) is identified by: Title page printed in red and black, imprint of John Martyn and James Allestry, Printers to the Royal Society, dated MDCLXV — the Roman date on the title is the primary check and it must read MDCLXV, not MDCLXVII.

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. London 1665 is the true first and the census claim is correct — there is no foreign or earlier edition, the book was written and printed in English.

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

No book-club edition. The dominant reprint tell is Henry Baker's Micrographia Restaurata (London, 1745), which reprints Hooke's original copperplates — their third impression — surrounded by Baker's own text. It is a different book by a different author and is routinely mistaken for Hooke's; check the title page and the author's name. Loose Micrographia plates in circulation are commonly pulled from Micrographia Restaurata or from modern facsimiles rather than from 1665 sheets.

I have a first edition of Micrographia: or Some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses — 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.