# Is "Nostromo" by Joseph Conrad a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Nostromo by Joseph Conrad (Harper & Brothers, 1904) is identified by: First English edition, Harper & Brothers, London, published on or about 14 October 1904 (the British Museum deposit copy was received 18 October); the novel had been serialised in T.P.'s Weekly from January to October 1904. The census claim is correct in outcome but imprecise in wording: the London Harper printing of October 1904 does precede the New York one, but the American is a separately set edition rather than a second "issue" of the same sheets.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First English edition, Harper & Brothers, London, published on or about 14 October 1904 (the British Museum deposit copy was received 18 October); the novel had been serialised in T.P.'s Weekly from January to October 1904
- Approximately 2,000 copies were printed
- The title page is dated 1904 with no further printings listed and no number line
- The identifying typographic point is at p
- 187, which is misnumbered 871; the final page is correctly numbered 480
- Binding is dark blue cloth, the front cover printed in light blue, the spine lettered in gilt
- Publisher imprint reads Harper & Brothers

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Joseph Conrad |
| Publisher | Harper & Brothers |
| Year | 1904 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First English edition, Harper & Brothers, London, published on or about 14 October 1904 (the British Museum deposit copy was received 18… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First English edition, Harper & Brothers, London, published on or about 14 October 1904 (the British Museum deposit copy was received 18 October); the novel had been serialised in T.P.'s Weekly from January to October 1904. Approximately 2,000 copies were printed. The title page is dated 1904 with no further printings listed and no number line. The identifying typographic point is at p. 187, which is misnumbered 871; the final page is correctly numbered 480. Binding is dark blue cloth, the front cover printed in light blue, the spine lettered in gilt. Dust jackets are not recorded for this English first and should not be expected.

## Is this the true first?
The census claim is correct in outcome but imprecise in wording: the London Harper printing of October 1904 does precede the New York one, but the American is a separately set edition rather than a second "issue" of the same sheets. The first American edition is Harper & Brothers, New York, 1904 (Cagle A10b / A10b.1; Keating 62; Supino A10.6.0), bound in green cloth decorated in orange and black, with its own point at p. 201, where "Europe" is misspelled "Eruope." The American text carries Conrad's revisions to the serial but differs from the English first in punctuation, capitalization and even paragraphing. Both are collected; the London printing is the true first, and the two are told apart at a glance by cloth colour — dark blue (English) versus green with orange and black (American).

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition is documented for 1904. Reprint tells to watch are the later Doubleday and Dent collected-edition volumes and the Modern Library issue, all of which are "first thus" only. A copy in green cloth decorated in orange and black is the American edition, not the English first, however the title page reads.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Nostromo* by Joseph Conrad a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/nostromo
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.