# Is "Northanger Abbey: and Persuasion" by Jane Austen a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Northanger Abbey: and Persuasion by Jane Austen (John Murray, London, 1818) is identified by: Four volumes, small octavo — Austen's only four-volume publication. The Murray London set (titles dated 1818, issued December 1817) is the true first for BOTH novels; neither was published separately in Austen's lifetime and no earlier printing of either text exists.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Four volumes, small octavo — Austen's only four-volume publication
- Northanger Abbey occupies volumes I-II and Persuasion volumes III-IV. The title pages are dated 1818, but the set was published in December 1817, five months after Austen's death, and advertised that month; a title-page date of 1818 with no edition statement is correct for the first, and the 1817/1818 discrepancy is not a defect
- Volume I opens with Henry Austen's "Biographical Notice of the Author" — the first printing of Jane Austen's name in any of her books, and a required point; a set lacking it is defective or later
- Half-titles are present in each of the four volumes as issued, with two terminal blanks in volume IV. Pagination: I: xxiv, 300
- II: [iv], 331
- III: [iv], 280
- Publisher imprint reads John Murray, London

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Jane Austen |
| Publisher | John Murray, London |
| Year | 1818 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Four volumes, small octavo — Austen's only four-volume publication |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Four volumes, small octavo — Austen's only four-volume publication. Northanger Abbey occupies volumes I-II and Persuasion volumes III-IV. The title pages are dated 1818, but the set was published in December 1817, five months after Austen's death, and advertised that month; a title-page date of 1818 with no edition statement is correct for the first, and the 1817/1818 discrepancy is not a defect. Volume I opens with Henry Austen's "Biographical Notice of the Author" — the first printing of Jane Austen's name in any of her books, and a required point; a set lacking it is defective or later. Half-titles are present in each of the four volumes as issued, with two terminal blanks in volume IV. Pagination: I: xxiv, 300; II: [iv], 331; III: [iv], 280; IV: [iv], 308. About 1,750 copies were printed. Gilson A9.

## Is this the true first?
The Murray London set (titles dated 1818, issued December 1817) is the true first for BOTH novels; neither was published separately in Austen's lifetime and no earlier printing of either text exists. Murray had bought back the manuscript of Northanger Abbey, written years earlier as "Susan" and long suppressed. The census claim is confirmed. Later editions of Northanger Abbey alone or Persuasion alone, however early they look, are reprints — the first appearance of both texts is inside this four-volume unit.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Not applicable — the book predates book-club publishing. The recurring trap is a broken set sold as a two-volume "Northanger Abbey" or "Persuasion": the first edition is a four-volume unit, and any two-volume run of a single novel is either a broken set or a later edition. Absence of the Biographical Notice in volume I likewise rules out a complete first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Northanger Abbey: and Persuasion* by Jane Austen a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/northanger-abbey-and-persuasion
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.