Is My Copy of Opticks a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Quarto, London 1704, title printed in red and black within a double-rule border
• The first-issue point is that Newton's name does not appear on the title page — the book was published anonymously, and the Advertisement is subscribed only with the initials I.N.; cataloguers also record a later 1704 issue in which the author's name is present on the title, so an Opticks title page naming Newton is not the first issue
• A complete first issue has 19 folding engraved plates and carries the two Latin mathematical treatises at the end — Tractatus de quadratura curvarum and Enumeratio linearum tertii ordinis — which are Newton's first mathematical papers in print; copies lacking the treatises are not the first issue
• Pagination runs in two sequences ([4], 144, then 211, [1]) and page 120 of the second sequence is misnumbered 112 — a useful confirming misprint
• Standard references: Babson 132
• Wallis 174

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?

London 1704 is the true first, and it is a genuine English-language first — Newton published Opticks in English rather than Latin, unlike the Principia. The Latin Optice sive de reflexionibus, refractionibus, inflexionibus & coloribus lucis (London: Sam. Smith and Benj. Walford, 1706), translated by Samuel Clarke under Newton's supervision, is a later translation, not a precedent, although it is collected in its own right because it adds new Queries. Later English editions printed for W. & J. Innys (1718 and after) enlarge the Queries further and are 'first thus' at best; there is no earlier Continental or original-language edition to displace the 1704.P-041272

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue applies to a 1704 quarto. The traps are the 1706 Latin Optice, the enlarged 18th-century English editions (Innys and successors), 19th-century reprints, the 1931 Bell/Whittaker reprint of the fourth edition and its Dover successors, and CD-ROM/facsimile reproductions of the 1704 text — all of which reproduce the words but none of which is the 1704 sheets. Plates are frequently extracted and sold separately, so a 1704 volume must be collated for all 19 folding plates.P-041273

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Opticks a first edition?

A first edition of Opticks by Isaac Newton (Printed for Sam. Smith and Benj. Walford, Printers to the Royal Society, London) is identified by: Quarto, London 1704, title printed in red and black within a double-rule border.

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. London 1704 is the true first, and it is a genuine English-language first — Newton published Opticks in English rather than Latin, unlike the Principia.

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

No book-club issue applies to a 1704 quarto. The traps are the 1706 Latin Optice, the enlarged 18th-century English editions (Innys and successors), 19th-century reprints, the 1931 Bell/Whittaker reprint of the fourth edition and its Dover successors, and CD-ROM/facsimile reproductions of the 1704 text — all of which reproduce the words but none of which is the 1704 sheets. Plates are frequently extracted and sold separately, so a 1704 volume must be collated for all 19 folding plates.

I have a first edition of Opticks — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.