Is My Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The true first edition collates x + 688 pages (711 in the rare copies that include the separately issued index), plus an 8-page catalogue of Murray's publications dated 1 November 1857, and was bound by Edmonds & Remnants of London in embossed brown cloth with gilt spine lettering, the binder's ticket usually found on the rear pastedown
• Early copies carry lithographic versions of three illustrations, namely the frontispiece and the plates facing pages 66 and 225, printed first by William West and, in later copies, redrawn by Thomas Picken for Day & Son, each captioned 'Published by John Murray, Albemarle St, May 1857'; as stocks of these lithographs were exhausted they were replaced by plain woodcuts after J. W. Whymper, and bibliographers (Abbey, Renard, Bradlow) have long disputed the exact priority of the resulting states, so no single binding-and-illustration combination should be treated as a certain first issue
• A later printing, datable to early 1858, replaces the original leaf comprising pages 7-8 with an expanded bifolium signed 8* and 8+ carrying revised text on Livingstone's marriage and children
• The volume also includes two folding maps engraved by John Arrowsmith and dated 1857, the larger 'Map of South Africa' housed in a pocket inside the rear board

How John Murray marked a first edition

• No formal edition statement on most 19th-century Murray firsts: identify by the title-page date with no 'New Edition' / 'Second Edition' / number-of-thousand line, the correct imprint ('John Murray, Albemarle Street'), a…

Full John Murray first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Murray issued a cheaper single-volume abridgment, A Popular Account of Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa, in 1861, condensed by Murray's editor Whitwell Elwin; it is a shorter, different text and does not carry the first edition's plate, map, and advertisement complement.P-036022

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa a first edition?

A first edition of Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa by David Livingstone (John Murray) is identified by: The true first edition collates x + 688 pages (711 in the rare copies that include the separately issued index), plus an 8-page catalogue of Murray's publications dated 1 November 1857, and was bound by Edmonds & Remnants of London in embossed brown cloth with gilt spine lettering, the binder's ticket usually found on the rear pastedown.

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.

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

Murray issued a cheaper single-volume abridgment, A Popular Account of Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa, in 1861, condensed by Murray's editor Whitwell Elwin; it is a shorter, different text and does not carry the first edition's plate, map, and advertisement complement.

I have a first edition of Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa — 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.