Is My Copy of 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

• No explicit edition statement in the Victorian era: first printings are identified by the date on the title page and by the ABSENCE of any 'second edition' / 'new edition' wording on the title page or half-title.
• Publisher's catalogue or advertisements bound in (usually at the rear, sometimes the front): on a true first the inserted ads are dated at or before the title-page year; later catalogue dates indicate a later printing…

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. 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.P-043962

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. [1-4] [1] 2-323 [324: blank].

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. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.