Is My Copy of Prometheus Unbound: A Lyrical Drama in Four Acts, With Other Poems a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition, octavo (approx. 211 x 137 mm), pp. 222, published summer 1820 (August; the Shelleys, resident in Italy, did not receive a copy until November)
• The issue point is the CONTENTS leaf, signature A3: in the FIRST issue that leaf is integral and carries 'Miscellaneous' MISSPELLED; in the second issue the word is spelled correctly and leaf A3 is a CANCEL - the physical cancel is the test, and Peter Harrington notes the second issue is the state 'as usual', the first issue being decidedly the scarcer
• Complete copies have the half-title and a terminal advertisement leaf, both frequently absent, especially in rebound copies
• CAUTION - a claim that the first has 'the errata leaf' is not supported by any source consulted and appears to be an error: Shelley found the volume riddled with printer's errors on receipt and sent Ollier a corrective list only on 20 January 1821, after publication; that 'formidable list' is recorded as lost, and no errata leaf is called for in the catalog descriptions checked
• The exact form of the misspelling on A3 is likewise NOT confirmed - secondary summaries variously give 'Miscellanous' and 'Miscellaneoous' and no primary catalog consulted prints the misspelled form, so it should not be quoted
• Original boards are the desirable state; most surviving copies are in later morocco (Zaehnsdorf bindings are common)

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. 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 UK 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?

C. and J. Ollier, London, 1820. Two corrections. First, the title is incomplete as given - the volume is 'Prometheus Unbound: A Lyrical Drama in Four Acts, With Other Poems', and the 'Other Poems' matter is the point of the book for many collectors, containing 'Ode to the West Wind', 'To a Skylark' and 'The Cloud' in their first appearances. Second, the errata-leaf claim is unsupported (see points), while the 'Miscellaneous' issue point is real but works the opposite way round from how it is often read - it is the FIRST issue that carries the misspelling on an integral A3, corrected in the second issue by a cancel leaf. There is no competing UK, American or foreign-language edition with a precedence claim; the 1820 Ollier volume is the sole first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue at this date. The dominant trap is the second issue sold as simply 'first edition' - technically correct (both issues are the 1820 first edition) but the corrected, cancelled-A3 state is the common one, and catalogs that say only 'first edition' without addressing A3 should be read as unplaced. Check whether A3 is integral or a cancel by collation, not by the reading alone. Also watch for copies bound without the half-title and terminal advertisement leaf, and for later collected editions of Shelley's poetical works (Mary Shelley's 1839 edition and after) offered as first appearances of the poem.P-041525

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Prometheus Unbound: A Lyrical Drama in Four Acts, With Other Poems a first edition?

A first edition of Prometheus Unbound: A Lyrical Drama in Four Acts, With Other Poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley (C. and J. Ollier, London) is identified by: First edition, octavo (approx. 211 x 137 mm), pp. 222, published summer 1820 (August; the Shelleys, resident in Italy, did not receive a copy until November).

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. C. and J. Ollier, London, 1820.

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

No book-club issue at this date. The dominant trap is the second issue sold as simply 'first edition' - technically correct (both issues are the 1820 first edition) but the corrected, cancelled-A3 state is the common one, and catalogs that say only 'first edition' without addressing A3 should be read as unplaced. Check whether A3 is integral or a cancel by collation, not by the reading alone.

I have a first edition of Prometheus Unbound: A Lyrical Drama in Four Acts, With Other Poems — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.