Is My Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Imprint: "London: Printed for A. Bell, Bookseller, Aldgate; and sold by Messrs
• Cox and Berry, King-Street, Boston
• MDCCLXXIII." Signatures [A]4 B-Q4; pagination v, [1] ("Letter sent by the Author's Master to the Publisher"), [1] ("To the Publick", the attestation), [1] blank, [9]-124, [3] Contents, [1] publisher's advertisements — the final leaf Q4 carries the end of the contents plus the ads and is frequently lacking
• Stoddard & Whitesell record TWO 1773 editions (236 and 237), so a 1773 A. Bell title page does not by itself establish the first: Edition 1 (Stoddard 236) is identified by turned chain lines in gatherings A and O-Q and a 3mm space between the lines of the imprint
• The engraved frontispiece portrait after Scipio Moorhead exists in two states (state A without crosshatching), and portrait state does not track edition — Christie's has catalogued a Stoddard-Edition-1 copy with the portrait in state A, while Bonhams catalogued another Edition-1 copy with the portrait in Stoddard's state B. The "To the Publick" attestation is signed in type by leading Boston men including Thomas Hutchinson and John Hancock
• Wheatley signed some copies in ink on the verso of the title leaf, noting that "the Genuine Copy may be known, for it is sign'd in my own handwriting." ESTC T153734

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 American 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?

London is the true first and the census claim is confirmed: Archibald Bell published the book in London on 1 September 1773 after Boston printers declined it, and Cox and Berry handled the Boston sale as agents — the Boston line in the imprint does not make it an American book. There was no American edition in Wheatley's lifetime. The first American edition is Philadelphia: Joseph Crukshank, 1786, issued two years after her death; it is plainer than the London book, lacks the frontispiece portrait, and was printed in smaller numbers. The 1786 Philadelphia is separately collected as the first American, but London 1773 has precedence.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Not applicable — the book predates book-club publishing. The live trap is bibliographic rather than club-related: Stoddard & Whitesell record a second 1773 edition (Stoddard 237) plus many variants, so the chain-line and imprint-spacing points must be checked before a 1773 Bell copy is called the first. At least eight further editions appeared in the thirty years after 1786, each with its own imprint.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral a first edition?

A first edition of Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral by Phillis Wheatley (A. Bell, London) is identified by: Imprint: "London: Printed for A.

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. London is the true first and the census claim is confirmed: Archibald Bell published the book in London on 1 September 1773 after Boston printers declined it, and Cox and Berry handled the Boston sale as agents — the Boston line in the imprint does not make it an American book.

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

Not applicable — the book predates book-club publishing. The live trap is bibliographic rather than club-related: Stoddard & Whitesell record a second 1773 edition (Stoddard 237) plus many variants, so the chain-line and imprint-spacing points must be checked before a 1773 Bell copy is called the first. At least eight further editions appeared in the thirty years after 1786, each with its own imprint.

I have a first edition of Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral — 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.