# Is "Past and Present" by Thomas Carlyle a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Past and Present by Thomas Carlyle (Chapman and Hall, 1843) is identified by: First edition, London: Chapman and Hall, 1843, octavo, vi+399pp, bound in black ribbed, blind-stamped cloth with the title lettered in gilt on the spine and pale yellow endpapers. London (Chapman and Hall) was published in April 1843, preceding the Boston (Little and Brown) edition of May 1843 by about a month.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, London: Chapman and Hall, 1843, octavo, vi+399pp, bound in black ribbed, blind-stamped cloth with the title lettered in gilt on the spine and pale yellow endpapers
- Chapman and Hall succeeded James Fraser -- publisher of Carlyle's The French Revolution
- , Chartism
- , and On Heroes
- -- as Carlyle's principal London publisher beginning with this title, and remained so for the rest of his career
- An American edition from Little and Brown, Boston, followed about a month later the same year, edited with a prefatory note by Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Publisher imprint reads Chapman and Hall

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Thomas Carlyle |
| Publisher | Chapman and Hall |
| Year | 1843 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, London: Chapman and Hall, 1843, octavo, vi+399pp, bound in black ribbed, blind-stamped cloth with the title lettered in gilt… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First edition, London: Chapman and Hall, 1843, octavo, vi+399pp, bound in black ribbed, blind-stamped cloth with the title lettered in gilt on the spine and pale yellow endpapers. Chapman and Hall succeeded James Fraser -- publisher of Carlyle's The French Revolution (1837), Chartism (1839), and On Heroes (1841) -- as Carlyle's principal London publisher beginning with this title, and remained so for the rest of his career. An American edition from Little and Brown, Boston, followed about a month later the same year, edited with a prefatory note by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

## Is this the true first?
London (Chapman and Hall) was published in April 1843, preceding the Boston (Little and Brown) edition of May 1843 by about a month.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Past and Present* by Thomas Carlyle a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/past-and-present
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.