Is My Pelléas et Mélisande a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The true first is the 1892 Brussels edition: "Pelléas et Mélisande, drame en cinq actes" (in prose), Bruxelles, Paul Lacomblez, éditeur, 1892 — one volume of 158 pages
• Confirm the true first by the Lacomblez imprint and 1892 date on the title page and the dedication to Octave Mirbeau ("En témoignage d'amitié, d'admiration et de reconnaissance profondes"), which Christie's records verbatim
• The limitation is the key deluxe point: a small large-paper run of 25 copies on Hollande (Dutch handmade) and 5 on Japon (Japan) preceded the ordinary-paper trade issue; large-paper copies should state their paper/number
• Note a bibliographic caution on format: Christie's catalogues the original as in-8 (180 x 115 mm), while several French antiquarian listings describe it as in-12 — sources disagree, so collation alone is not a decisive point of issue
• Being fragile and slight, most surviving copies are later collector rebindings in half or full morocco (binders such as Noulhac and Alfred Farez are recorded) with the original wrappers and spine bound in; a well-preserved copy retains those wrappers

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. Verify this is the British true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. 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.
5. 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 true first edition is the original-language French: Bruxelles, Paul Lacomblez, 1892 (the text behind Debussy's 1902 opera). The first English-language appearance is Erving Winslow's translation, "Pelléas and Mélisande: A Drama in Five Acts," Thomas Y. Crowell & Co. (New York, also Boston), 1894 — the earliest located English edition; a Richard Hovey translation followed (1896). It is often confused with Laurence Alma-Tadema's London translation, "Pelleas and Melisanda, and The Sightless: Two Plays" (The Scott Library), Walter Scott, London, 1895 — note her spelling "Melisanda." English-speaking collectors should treat the 1894 Crowell/Winslow as the first English and the 1895 Walter Scott/Alma-Tadema as the first British.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No mass-market book-club edition of this specific title is the usual trap; the dangers here are different. Traps: (1) later French printings — Lacomblez reissued the title and later French houses (e.g., Fasquelle) printed it, so a plain later or undated French printing is often mistaken for the 1892 first; confirm the 1892 Lacomblez Brussels imprint. (2) Opera-libretto and vocal-score confusion — post-1902 items pairing Maeterlinck's text with Debussy's music (Fromont, Durand, etc.) are music publications, not the first edition of the play. (3) The English 1894 Crowell and the 1895 Walter Scott "Scott Library" translation both ran into many later dated impressions (1910s copies exist, e.g., 1913-1914) that look similar but are not the first English/British.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Pelléas et Mélisande a first edition?

A first edition of Pelléas et Mélisande by Maurice Maeterlinck (Paul Lacomblez) is identified by: The true first is the 1892 Brussels edition: "Pelléas et Mélisande, drame en cinq actes" (in prose), Bruxelles, Paul Lacomblez, éditeur, 1892 — one volume of 158 pages.

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 true first edition is the original-language French: Bruxelles, Paul Lacomblez, 1892 (the text behind Debussy's 1902 opera).

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

No mass-market book-club edition of this specific title is the usual trap; the dangers here are different. Traps: (1) later French printings — Lacomblez reissued the title and later French houses (e.g., Fasquelle) printed it, so a plain later or undated French printing is often mistaken for the 1892 first; confirm the 1892 Lacomblez Brussels imprint. (2) Opera-libretto and vocal-score confusion — post-1902 items pairing Maeterlinck's text with Debussy's music (Fromont, Durand, etc.) are music pu

I have a first edition of Pelléas et Mélisande — 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.