Is My Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell a First Edition?

The points of issue

• London: Aylott and Jones, 8 Paternoster Row, 1846; published at the sisters' own expense, 1,000 copies printed
• The first issue is identified by one thing only — the Aylott and Jones imprint on the title page
• Nothing else distinguishes the two issues, because Smith, Elder bought and reused the identical sheets and the identical binding cases: original olive-green cloth, blind-stamped on the boards, spine lettered in gilt, with a single-leaf advertisement at the rear
• An errata slip and a publisher's catalogue are present in some copies and absent from most, and neither is an issue point
• Charlotte contributed 19 poems and Emily and Anne 21 each, under the pseudonyms Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell
• Because the title leaf is the whole of the evidence, examine it for a stub or cancel

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. 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?

Aylott and Jones, London, 1846 is the true first and the census is correct. No UK/US or foreign-language precedence question arises: this is the Brontës' first appearance in print, self-financed, and no authorised American edition preceded it. The 1848 Smith, Elder appearance is a reissue of the same 1846 sheets, not a new edition — bibliographically it is first edition, second issue, and should never be described as a second edition or as an 1848 book.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The 1848 Smith, Elder reissue is the trap, and it is a subtle one. After Jane Eyre made 'Currer Bell' famous, Smith, Elder bought the 961 unsold copies, sheets and cases from Aylott and Jones in September 1848 and put them out in October 1848 with a cancel title page — and that cancel title is still dated 1846. A copy in period olive cloth, dated 1846, reading Smith, Elder on the title is therefore the second issue, and it is what nearly every survivor is. Only 39 copies went out under the Aylott and Jones title: roughly fourteen to reviewers, two sold at retail (the famous figure), the balance given away by Charlotte to authors she admired; dealers describe the first issue as virtually unprocurable, with something on the order of ten copies traced. The '1846' on the title page is thus necessary and nowhere near sufficient — read the publisher's name, not the date.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell a first edition?

A first edition of Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell by Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë (Aylott and Jones, London) is identified by: London: Aylott and Jones, 8 Paternoster Row, 1846; published at the sisters' own expense, 1,000 copies printed.

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. Aylott and Jones, London, 1846 is the true first and the census is correct.

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

The 1848 Smith, Elder reissue is the trap, and it is a subtle one. After Jane Eyre made 'Currer Bell' famous, Smith, Elder bought the 961 unsold copies, sheets and cases from Aylott and Jones in September 1848 and put them out in October 1848 with a cancel title page — and that cancel title is still dated 1846. A copy in period olive cloth, dated 1846, reading Smith, Elder on the title is therefore the second issue, and it is what nearly every survivor is. Only 39 copies went out under the Aylot

I have a first edition of Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell — 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.