Is My 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.

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.

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 — 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.