# Is "Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded" by Samuel Richardson a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson (Printed for C. Rivington and J. Osborn, London, 1740) is identified by: Two volumes, duodecimo, published anonymously and issued 6 November 1740 — but the title-pages of the first edition read 1741. The London printing for Rivington and Osborn — dated 1741, issued November 1740 — is the true first, and volumes I–II alone constitute it.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- 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
- Publisher imprint reads Printed for C. Rivington and J. Osborn, London

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Samuel Richardson |
| Publisher | Printed for C. Rivington and J. Osborn, London |
| Year | 1740 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Two volumes, duodecimo, published anonymously and issued 6 November 1740 — but the title-pages of the first edition read 1741 |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## 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. Phillip J. Pirages (ABAA), citing Sale's Richardson bibliography, records the first-state points in vol. I as Letter XXVII (p. 81) misnumbered 'XXVI', p. 16 mis-paged '61', and p. 295 with the '5' omitted; other dealer copies additionally report p. 4 unpaginated, the catchword 'Her' on p. 233 printed 'Hre', and the catchword 'it' on p. 324 wanting. Those finer states rest on single dealer descriptions rather than corroborating sources, so treat them as supporting checks and not as decisive tests.

## 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.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded* by Samuel Richardson a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/pamela-or-virtue-rewarded
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.