Is My Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women a First Edition?

The points of issue

• London: Smith, Elder and Co., 65 Cornhill, 1858; published 28 October 1858; octavo, pp. [1-4] [1] 2-323 [324: blank]. Original decorated dark green pebbled cloth, front and rear panels stamped in blind, spine panel stamped in gold, cream endpapers, all edges untrimmed; more than one binding variant exists — dealers refer copies to Wolff's copy I / copy II, and a blind-stamped olive-green cloth is also recorded
• The advertisements carry the working state point: the first state has a 16-page publisher's catalogue bound in at the rear dated September 1858, while a later state carries ads dated July 1859
• There is no edition or printing statement and no number line
• Shaberman No
• 8 is the standard bibliographical reference
• The book was issued before the dust-jacket era, so no jacket point applies

How Smith, Elder & Co. marked a first edition

• Original publisher's cloth binding (blind- and gilt-stamped), correct half-titles present, and an uncut or unopened text block support a first-issue state.

Full Smith, Elder & Co. first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
3. Verify this is the UK 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?

UK only for precedence: Smith, Elder & Co., London, 1858 is the true first. The first American edition did not appear until Loring, Boston, in 1870 — twelve years later — so no simultaneous-issue question arises and the census claim is confirmed. The real hazard here is 'first thus' traps, which are numerous: the 1905 Arthur C. Fifield first Hughes-illustrated edition (thirty-three new Arthur Hughes illustrations, edited by Greville MacDonald), the 1915 J. M. Dent Everyman No. 732 with a new Greville MacDonald preface (the edition C. S. Lewis bought at the railway station), and the 1971 Gollancz Phantastes & Lilith with the C. S. Lewis introduction.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition applies — an 1858 London novel predates the book-club era by decades. Reprint tells are therefore imprint-based: any copy naming Loring, Fifield, Dent/Everyman, Daldy Isbister, Gollancz or a modern press is a reprint or 'first thus', not the Smith, Elder sheets. The target is a Smith, Elder title page dated 1858 in blind-stamped dark green pebbled cloth with the September 1858 catalogue at the rear.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women a first edition?

A first edition of Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women by George MacDonald (Smith, Elder & Co.) is identified by: London: Smith, Elder and Co., 65 Cornhill, 1858; published 28 October 1858; octavo, pp.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). UK only for precedence: Smith, Elder & Co., London, 1858 is the true first.

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

No book-club edition applies — an 1858 London novel predates the book-club era by decades. Reprint tells are therefore imprint-based: any copy naming Loring, Fifield, Dent/Everyman, Daldy Isbister, Gollancz or a modern press is a reprint or 'first thus', not the Smith, Elder sheets. The target is a Smith, Elder title page dated 1858 in blind-stamped dark green pebbled cloth with the September 1858 catalogue at the rear.

I have a first edition of Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women — 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.