Is My Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Two volumes, duodecimo, published anonymously and issued 6 November 1740 — but the title-pages of the first edition read 1741
• That discrepancy is the primary check, and it inverts the usual instinct: on Pamela, the earlier printed date is not the earlier book
• The imprint reads 'Printed for C. Rivington, in St
• Paul's Church-Yard; and J. Osborn, in Pater-noster Row.' Richardson's name appears nowhere; the work is presented as edited, not authored
• The title-page carries no edition statement — the second edition (14 February 1741) and every later London edition add both an edition statement and the line 'To which are prefixed, extracts from several curious letters written to the editor on the subject', so either line rules a copy out
• The first edition is unillustrated: the twenty-nine Hayman and Gravelot engravings first appear in the octavo edition of 8 May 1742, so any Pamela with plates is a later printing

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. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. 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.
4. Verify this is the American true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. 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.
6. 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 printing for Rivington and Osborn — dated 1741, issued November 1740 — is the true first, and volumes I–II alone constitute it. Volumes III–IV ('Pamela in her Exalted Condition'), Richardson's own continuation printed for S. Richardson and sold by Rivington and Osborn, are dated 1742 and were published 7 December 1741; they are a sequel, not part of the first edition, and four-volume sets are made up from two separate first editions. The first American edition is the Philadelphia printing 'reprinted and sold by B. Franklin', 1742–43, collected as the first novel printed in America and a landmark of Americana — but it is a reprint of a later London text, not a true first, and must never be catalogued as one. Both editions are collected, for entirely different reasons: the London 1740/41 as the first appearance of the work, the Franklin Philadelphia 1742–43 as an American printing milestone.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Book clubs did not exist in 1740; the equivalent traps are Richardson's own fast-following reissues and 'first thus' printings. His editions ran second 14 February 1741, third 12 March 1741, fourth 5 May 1741, fifth 22 September 1741, and sixth (the illustrated octavo) 8 May 1742 — all carry an edition statement on the title-page. The 1742 four-volume French translation 'Londres: chez Jean Osborne' carries a false London imprint (actually printed in Paris) and is not an English edition despite the Osborn-like name. In practice: plates, an edition statement, or the 'extracts from several curious letters' line each independently disqualify a copy.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded a first edition?

A first edition of Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson (Printed for C. Rivington and J. Osborn, London) is identified by: Two volumes, duodecimo, published anonymously and issued 6 November 1740 — but the title-pages of the first edition read 1741.

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 printing for Rivington and Osborn — dated 1741, issued November 1740 — is the true first, and volumes I–II alone constitute it.

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

Book clubs did not exist in 1740; the equivalent traps are Richardson's own fast-following reissues and 'first thus' printings. His editions ran second 14 February 1741, third 12 March 1741, fourth 5 May 1741, fifth 22 September 1741, and sixth (the illustrated octavo) 8 May 1742 — all carry an edition statement on the title-page. The 1742 four-volume French translation 'Londres: chez Jean Osborne' carries a false London imprint (actually printed in Paris) and is not an English edition despite t

I have a first edition of Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded — 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.