# Is "Phineas Finn, the Irish Member" by Anthony Trollope a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Phineas Finn, the Irish Member by Anthony Trollope (Virtue and Co., 1869) is identified by: First edition, two volumes, octavo, paginated vi,[ii],320; vi,[ii],328, published March 1869 with twenty tissue-guarded wood-engraved plates by John Everett Millais, one per original monthly installment of the serialization in Saint Paul's Magazine. The English Virtue and Co.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, two volumes, octavo, paginated vi,[ii],320; vi,[ii],328, published March 1869 with twenty tissue-guarded wood-engraved plates by John Everett Millais, one per original monthly installment of the serialization in Saint Paul's Magazine
- Bound in publisher's original green cloth stamped 'Virtue and Co.' at the foot of the spine, with gilt lettering and overall blind decoration to upper covers and spines, and pale yellow endpapers
- Sadleir himself noted in 1928 that first editions in the original Virtue binding are scarce and copies in fine state very rare indeed
- Cited as Sadleir, Trollope, no
- Publisher imprint reads Virtue and Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Anthony Trollope |
| Publisher | Virtue and Co. |
| Year | 1869 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, two volumes, octavo, paginated vi,[ii],320; vi,[ii],328, published March 1869 with twenty tissue-guarded wood-engraved… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, two volumes, octavo, paginated vi,[ii],320; vi,[ii],328, published March 1869 with twenty tissue-guarded wood-engraved plates by John Everett Millais, one per original monthly installment of the serialization in Saint Paul's Magazine. Bound in publisher's original green cloth stamped 'Virtue and Co.' at the foot of the spine, with gilt lettering and overall blind decoration to upper covers and spines, and pale yellow endpapers. Sadleir himself noted in 1928 that first editions in the original Virtue binding are scarce and copies in fine state very rare indeed. Cited as Sadleir, Trollope, no. 30.

## Is this the true first?
The English Virtue and Co. edition, published in two volumes in March 1869, precedes the American edition from Harper and Brothers, whose title page is dated 1868 but which was not actually issued until several months after the London publication.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The American edition is bound in brown rather than green cloth and includes only seventeen of Millais's plates; its first issue also omits Millais's name from the title page, unlike the true English first edition, which credits him prominently.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Phineas Finn, the Irish Member* by Anthony Trollope a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/phineas-finn-the-irish-member
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.