Is My Poems by Emily Dickinson (First Series) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Dickinson's first book and first posthumous collection
• First edition, first printing: 'Roberts Brothers, 1890' on the title page, an edition of only about 500 copies, with the gilt-and-silver Indian-pipe (Monotropa) binding design by Mabel Loomis Todd, top edge gilt (Myerson A.1.1)
• The cloth occurs in more than one color (gray/white and olive-decorated variants) with NO established binding priority
• A known issue point in some copies is a binding/folding error placing 'This is my letter to the World' and the section-one introductory leaf within the table of contents

How Roberts Brothers marked a first edition

• No printed first-edition statement: identify by date agreement (title-page year matching the copyright year) and the absence of any reprint notice.
• Many titles were issued in numbered 'thousands' — a 'Twentieth Thousand' or similar count on the title page indicates a later printing; first printings carry no such count.

Full Roberts 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. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. 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.
6. 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?

US true first, 1890, Roberts Brothers, Boston (Dickinson published almost nothing in life). The title page reads 1890; do not confuse this with the Second Series (1891). Printings followed quickly. The genuine first has the 1890 imprint and the Indian-pipe binding; the various binding colors carry no priority.P-008093

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later printings and the separate Second Series (1891) and Third Series (1896) volumes are not the first. The first is distinguished by the 1890 Roberts Brothers imprint and the Myerson A.1.1 binding, not by any single binding color.P-008094

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Poems by Emily Dickinson (First Series) a first edition?

A first edition of Poems by Emily Dickinson (First Series) by Emily Dickinson (ed. Mabel Loomis Todd & T. W. Higginson) (Roberts Brothers) is identified by: Dickinson's first book and first posthumous collection.

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. US true first, 1890, Roberts Brothers, Boston (Dickinson published almost nothing in life).

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

Later printings and the separate Second Series (1891) and Third Series (1896) volumes are not the first. The first is distinguished by the 1890 Roberts Brothers imprint and the Myerson A.1.1 binding, not by any single binding color.

I have a first edition of Poems by Emily Dickinson (First Series) — 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.