Is My No Name a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition, three volumes, octavo, published in December 1862 by Sampson Low, Son, and Co
• (a large first printing of 4,000 copies, of which all but 400 had sold by the end of the first day), paginated ix,[i],339,[1]; [iv],363,[1]; [ii],408, following serialization in Dickens's All the Year Round
• Half-titles are called for in volumes I and II. Cited as Sadleir, Excursions 141, and Parrish 45-46

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. 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. Verify this is the American true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. 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.
6. 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?

The English three-volume edition (Sampson Low, December 1862) precedes rival American editions from Harper (New York), Gardner Fuller (Boston, two volumes), and West and Johnson (Richmond), all of which followed in 1863.P-034893

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

A small number of unsold 1862 sheets were rebound in blue cloth for an 1863 remainder issue, and the 1864 one-volume reprint added a Millais frontispiece not present in the original three-volume first edition; genuine first-edition sets are bound in the original scarlet embossed cloth with pale yellow endpapers.P-034894

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of No Name a first edition?

A first edition of No Name by Wilkie Collins (Sampson Low, Son, and Co.) is identified by: First edition, three volumes, octavo, published in December 1862 by Sampson Low, Son, and Co.

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. The English three-volume edition (Sampson Low, December 1862) precedes rival American editions from Harper (New York), Gardner Fuller (Boston, two volumes), and West and Johnson (Richmond), all of which followed in 1863.

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

A small number of unsold 1862 sheets were rebound in blue cloth for an 1863 remainder issue, and the 1864 one-volume reprint added a Millais frontispiece not present in the original three-volume first edition; genuine first-edition sets are bound in the original scarlet embossed cloth with pale yellow endpapers.

I have a first edition of No Name — 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.