Is My Poems and Ballads a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Moxon printed and issued the book in April 1866 but withdrew it from sale the day after the first hostile reviews appeared, fearing prosecution for obscenity
• John Camden Hotten reissued the same sheets later that year under his own imprint, which is the state most often found
• A genuine Moxon-imprint copy is identified by the title page reading "Edward Moxon & Co." rather than "John Camden Hotten"; because Swinburne was correcting errata while the book was in print, both corrected and uncorrected states of certain gatherings exist, and leaf N3 is a cancel in effectively all surviving copies of either imprint
• Bound in green cloth, spine lettered in gilt, covers panelled in blind with the publisher's monogram in blind on the front cover

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. 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.
4. 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 Moxon imprint of April 1866 has technical priority as the first published state, but genuine Moxon-imprint copies are very uncommon; the Hotten reissue of the same year, using the same sheets under a cancel title leaf, is the state most often described in the trade as "first edition."P-035207

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Poems and Ballads, Second Series (1878) and Poems and Ballads, Third Series (1889) are entirely separate, later Swinburne volumes and should never be confused with the 1866 book when identifying a first edition of "Poems and Ballads."P-035208

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Poems and Ballads a first edition?

A first edition of Poems and Ballads by Algernon Charles Swinburne (Edward Moxon & Co., withdrawn; reissued the same year by John Camden Hotten) is identified by: Moxon printed and issued the book in April 1866 but withdrew it from sale the day after the first hostile reviews appeared, fearing prosecution for obscenity; John Camden Hotten reissued the same sheets later that year under his own imprint, which is the state most often found.

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 Moxon imprint of April 1866 has technical priority as the first published state, but genuine Moxon-imprint copies are very uncommon; the Hotten reissue of the same year, using the same sheets under a cancel title leaf, is the state most often described in the trade as "first edition."

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

Poems and Ballads, Second Series (1878) and Poems and Ballads, Third Series (1889) are entirely separate, later Swinburne volumes and should never be confused with the 1866 book when identifying a first edition of "Poems and Ballads."

I have a first edition of Poems and Ballads — 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.