# Is "Micrographia" by Robert Hooke a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Micrographia by Robert Hooke (John Martyn and James Allestry, Printers to the Royal Society, London, 1665) is identified by: Folio, London 1665, printed by John Martyn and James Allestry, Printers to the Royal Society; the 1665 imprint directs buyers to their shop at the Bell in St Paul's Church-yard. London 1665 is the true first and there is no foreign or earlier precedent; Micrographia was written and first printed in English as the Royal Society's first major publication.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Folio, London 1665, printed by John Martyn and James Allestry, Printers to the Royal Society; the 1665 imprint directs buyers to their shop at the Bell in St Paul's Church-yard
- The title page is printed in red and black with the engraved arms of the Royal Society, and the first issue includes the imprimatur (privilege) leaf licensed by the Council of the Royal Society — its presence is the cited first-issue point
- A complete copy has 38 engraved plates, of which 12 are folding or double-page, including the celebrated fold-out flea and the louse, which opens to several times the leaf; errata are printed at the end of the preliminaries
- Signatures run [pi]2, A2, a-q2, B-C2, D-Z4, Aa-Kk4, Ll-Mm2
- Because the plates are large, valuable individually and easily removed, collation of all 38 (and of the folding plates' completeness at the folds) is the single most important check
- References: Wing H2620
- Publisher imprint reads John Martyn and James Allestry, Printers to the Royal Society, London

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Robert Hooke |
| Publisher | John Martyn and James Allestry, Printers to the Royal Society, London |
| Year | 1665 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Folio, London 1665, printed by John Martyn and James Allestry, Printers to the Royal Society; the 1665 imprint directs buyers to their shop… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Folio, London 1665, printed by John Martyn and James Allestry, Printers to the Royal Society; the 1665 imprint directs buyers to their shop at the Bell in St Paul's Church-yard. The title page is printed in red and black with the engraved arms of the Royal Society, and the first issue includes the imprimatur (privilege) leaf licensed by the Council of the Royal Society — its presence is the cited first-issue point. A complete copy has 38 engraved plates, of which 12 are folding or double-page, including the celebrated fold-out flea and the louse, which opens to several times the leaf; errata are printed at the end of the preliminaries. Signatures run [pi]2, A2, a-q2, B-C2, D-Z4, Aa-Kk4, Ll-Mm2. Because the plates are large, valuable individually and easily removed, collation of all 38 (and of the folding plates' completeness at the folds) is the single most important check. References: Wing H2620; Keynes 6; Grolier/Horblit 50; PMM 147. These are identification points only — no valuation is offered.

## Is this the true first?
London 1665 is the true first and there is no foreign or earlier precedent; Micrographia was written and first printed in English as the Royal Society's first major publication. The 1667 Micrographia is not a second edition but the first edition, second issue — the same 1665 sheets reissued with a cancel title dated MDCLXVII; recorded 1667 title states carry John Martyn's changed address at the Bell a little without Temple Bar, and copies are also catalogued with a James Allestry / Royal Society 1667 imprint. A 1667 title page therefore means second issue, and should be described as such rather than as a first edition without qualification.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club category applies. The dominant reprint tell is Henry Baker's Micrographia Restaurata: or, the Copper-Plates of Dr. Hooke's Wonderful Discoveries by the Microscope (London: printed for and sold by John Bowles, 1745), which reprints the original 1665 copperplates — with some plates omitted, some copied, captions added and plate numbers renumbered to fit the abridgement — in 33 engraved plates (4 folding). Its impressions are genuine strikes from Hooke's plates and are constantly mistaken for 1665 plates; the plate numbering, added captions and 1745 letterpress give it away. Also expect modern facsimiles and Dover-style reprints, and loose plates broken out of any of the three plate-printings (1665, 1667, 1745).

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Micrographia* by Robert Hooke a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/micrographia
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.