Is My Novum Organum a First Edition?

The points of issue

• London, 1620, folio; issued as the second part of the Instauratio Magna, so the letterpress title begins "Franscisci de Verulamio... Instauratio Magna" and Novum Organum is the section title
• The letterpress title-page imprint reads "Londini, Apud Joannem Billium, Typographum Regium
• Anno 1620" — John Bill alone
• This is the trap: Bonham Norton's name appears in the COLOPHON, never on the title page, so a buyer hunting for "Bonham Norton" on the title leaf will not find it in any copy
• The engraved allegorical title is by Simon van de Passe and shows a ship in full sail passing outward through the Pillars of Hercules; woodcut headpieces and historiated initials throughout
• The two issues are distinguished at the back of the book, not the front

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. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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 1620 London folio is the true first of Novum Organum and there is no earlier or competing edition; Bacon wrote in Latin and published in London, so no original-language-versus-translation question arises. The census claim naming "Bonham Norton and John Bill" is the standard ESTC and Gibson attribution and correctly describes the first issue's colophon, but it should not be read as a title-page imprint. The important correction is to issue precedence, which is easy to get backwards and is frequently reversed in dealer copy: the presence of Norton in the colophon marks the FIRST issue, and his removal — together with the cancellation of e3 and the printing of errata on e4 — marks the SECOND. Bacon's Essayes are a separate high spot on their own footing, not part of this book, and both are collected.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club question arises for a 1620 folio. The material later-state tells are the issue points above: a copy whose colophon omits Norton and whose e4 carries the errata is the second issue, however it is described. Bacon's Essayes should not be confused with this work or with each other across editions: the first is "Essayes. Religious Meditations. Places of perswasion and disswasion. Seene and allowed.", London, printed for Humfrey Hooper at the Blacke Beare in Chauncery Lane, 1597, with the colophon "Printed at London by Iohn Windet for Humfrey Hooper", containing ten essays (Gibson 1). The 1612 edition enlarges the text to 38 essays and the 1625 to 58; these are distinct editions rather than printings, and the 1612 and 1625 are routinely offered as though interchangeable with the 1597. Later Latin and English editions of Novum Organum carry their own imprints and dates.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Novum Organum a first edition?

A first edition of Novum Organum by Francis Bacon (London — title-page imprint "Apud Joannem Billium") is identified by: London, 1620, folio; issued as the second part of the Instauratio Magna, so the letterpress title begins "Franscisci de Verulamio.

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 1620 London folio is the true first of Novum Organum and there is no earlier or competing edition; Bacon wrote in Latin and published in London, so no original-language-versus-translation question arises.

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

No book-club question arises for a 1620 folio. The material later-state tells are the issue points above: a copy whose colophon omits Norton and whose e4 carries the errata is the second issue, however it is described. Bacon's Essayes should not be confused with this work or with each other across editions: the first is "Essayes. Religious Meditations. Places of perswasion and disswasion. Seene and allowed.", London, printed for Humfrey Hooper at the Blacke Beare in Chauncery Lane, 1597, with th

I have a first edition of Novum Organum — 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.