Is My Pierre; or, The Ambiguities a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition, published by Harper & Brothers, 329 & 331 Pearl Street, New York, 1852, collating viii, 495 pp
• The publisher's binding is purple cloth decorated in blind, with the spine lettered in gilt; a minority of dealer descriptions instead call the cloth slate or gray, likely reflecting fading in individual copies rather than a distinct binding state
• Harper's catastrophic December 1853 fire at the Franklin Square premises destroyed 494 unsold copies of Pierre still in the publisher's own warehouse stock, a large share of the original printing
• Surviving first-edition copies are correspondingly scarce, with dealers commonly citing fewer than an estimated 300 extant copies

How Harper & Brothers marked a first edition

• 1912-1949: month/year letter code on copyright page. Month: A=Jan, B=Feb, C=Mar, D=Apr, E=May, F=Jun, G=Jul, H=Aug, I=Sep, K=Oct, L=Nov, M=Dec (J skipped).
• Year code (J skipped): M=1912, N=1913 ... Z=1925, then A=1926, B=1927 ... Z=1950 (cycles).

Full Harper & Brothers first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. 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.
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.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The novel was not reprinted in America for decades after its commercial failure; 20th-century scholarly and trade reprints (beginning in the 1920s Melville revival) are clearly modern editions and do not reproduce the original blind-decorated purple cloth and gilt spine lettering of the 1852 first edition.P-034450

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Pierre; or, The Ambiguities a first edition?

A first edition of Pierre; or, The Ambiguities by Herman Melville (Harper & Brothers) is identified by: First edition, published by Harper & Brothers, 329 & 331 Pearl Street, New York, 1852, collating viii, 495 pp.

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.

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

The novel was not reprinted in America for decades after its commercial failure; 20th-century scholarly and trade reprints (beginning in the 1920s Melville revival) are clearly modern editions and do not reproduce the original blind-decorated purple cloth and gilt spine lettering of the 1852 first edition.

I have a first edition of Pierre; or, The Ambiguities — 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.