# Is "Rachel Ray" by Anthony Trollope a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Rachel Ray by Anthony Trollope (Chapman and Hall, 1863) is identified by: First edition, two volumes, of which Chapman and Hall's total print run of 3,000 copies was issued across six separate 1863 printings of roughly 500 copies each. Rachel Ray was written on commission for serialization in the magazine Good Words, but editor Norman Macleod rejected the completed novel in mid-1863 as unsuitable for his religious readership after a rival paper attacked the magazine's Evangelical credentials; it was never serialized in any periodical.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, two volumes, of which Chapman and Hall's total print run of 3,000 copies was issued across six separate 1863 printings of roughly 500 copies each
- Unlike the true first printing, which carries no edition statement at all on its title page, the later 1863 printings are explicitly numbered on the title page -- surviving copies are recorded reading 'Second Edition,' 'Fifth Edition,' and 'Sixth Edition.' A genuine first-edition set must therefore show no edition wording whatsoever on the title pages of either volume
- Publisher imprint reads Chapman and Hall
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Anthony Trollope |
| Publisher | Chapman and Hall |
| Year | 1863 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, two volumes, of which Chapman and Hall's total print run of 3,000 copies was issued across six separate 1863 printings of… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, two volumes, of which Chapman and Hall's total print run of 3,000 copies was issued across six separate 1863 printings of roughly 500 copies each. Unlike the true first printing, which carries no edition statement at all on its title page, the later 1863 printings are explicitly numbered on the title page -- surviving copies are recorded reading 'Second Edition,' 'Fifth Edition,' and 'Sixth Edition.' A genuine first-edition set must therefore show no edition wording whatsoever on the title pages of either volume.

## Is this the true first?
Rachel Ray was written on commission for serialization in the magazine Good Words, but editor Norman Macleod rejected the completed novel in mid-1863 as unsuitable for his religious readership after a rival paper attacked the magazine's Evangelical credentials; it was never serialized in any periodical. The Chapman and Hall two-volume edition of October 1863 is therefore the first appearance of the text in any form, not a book edition trailing a magazine version.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Any copy whose title page carries a numbered edition statement such as 'Second Edition,' 'Fifth Edition,' or 'Sixth Edition' is one of the later 1863 Chapman and Hall printings rather than the true first printing, even though all six printings share the same year, publisher, and two-volume format.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Rachel Ray* by Anthony Trollope a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/rachel-ray
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.