Is My Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First published by John Murray, London, March 30, 1847, as part of Murray's 'Home and Colonial Library,' in an edition of 4,027 copies issued in both printed wrappers (two volumes) and bright red gilt-decorated cloth (one volume)
• The American edition followed from Harper & Brothers, New York, May 1, 1847 (two volumes), in an edition of 4,000 copies, most issued in wrappers with a smaller number bound in colored cloth (brown, purple, slate, black, red, or green), gilt
• BAL 13656 covers the Harper first American edition, tracking the various cloth-color variants

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. 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 London John Murray edition of March 30, 1847 precedes the New York Harper & Brothers edition of May 1, 1847 by about a month; the Murray sheets are the first edition of the book in any form.P-034504

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later reprint and omnibus editions -- from Victorian cheap reprint series through the modern Library of America omnibus pairing Typee, Omoo, and Mardi -- reset the text under a single cover and binding; none reproduces the original two-volume wrappers or the gilt cloth-color variants (brown, purple, slate, black, red, or green) of the separate 1847 Murray and Harper first editions.P-034505

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas a first edition?

A first edition of Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas by Herman Melville (John Murray) is identified by: First published by John Murray, London, March 30, 1847, as part of Murray's 'Home and Colonial Library,' in an edition of 4,027 copies issued in both printed wrappers (two volumes) and bright red gilt-decorated cloth (one volume).

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 London John Murray edition of March 30, 1847 precedes the New York Harper & Brothers edition of May 1, 1847 by about a month; the Murray sheets are the first edition of the book in any form.

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

Later reprint and omnibus editions -- from Victorian cheap reprint series through the modern Library of America omnibus pairing Typee, Omoo, and Mardi -- reset the text under a single cover and binding; none reproduces the original two-volume wrappers or the gilt cloth-color variants (brown, purple, slate, black, red, or green) of the separate 1847 Murray and Harper first editions.

I have a first edition of Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas — 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.