# Is "Representative Men: Seven Lectures" by Ralph Waldo Emerson a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Representative Men: Seven Lectures by Ralph Waldo Emerson (Phillips, Sampson and Company, 1850) is identified by: First edition, Boston: Phillips, Sampson and Company, 1850, small octavo, 285 pages, with no terminal advertisements in the correct first printing/first state; a second printing issued the same year adds two pages of publisher's advertisements at the rear (Myerson A22.1.b).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, Boston: Phillips, Sampson and Company, 1850, small octavo, 285 pages, with no terminal advertisements in the correct first printing/first state; a second printing issued the same year adds two pages of publisher's advertisements at the rear (Myerson A22.1.b)
- Bound in original dark brown cloth stamped in blind with an hourglass ornament on the upper and lower covers and printed on notably thin paper; in the true first printing the text block bulks to only 11/16 inch
- Because the great majority of surviving copies are the second printing in its later binding, copies in the earliest state of text and binding are seldom encountered
- Standard reference: BAL 5219 (Myerson A22.1.a)
- Publisher imprint reads Phillips, Sampson and Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Ralph Waldo Emerson |
| Publisher | Phillips, Sampson and Company |
| Year | 1850 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, Boston: Phillips, Sampson and Company, 1850, small octavo, 285 pages, with no terminal advertisements in the correct first… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, Boston: Phillips, Sampson and Company, 1850, small octavo, 285 pages, with no terminal advertisements in the correct first printing/first state; a second printing issued the same year adds two pages of publisher's advertisements at the rear (Myerson A22.1.b). Bound in original dark brown cloth stamped in blind with an hourglass ornament on the upper and lower covers and printed on notably thin paper; in the true first printing the text block bulks to only 11/16 inch. Because the great majority of surviving copies are the second printing in its later binding, copies in the earliest state of text and binding are seldom encountered. Standard reference: BAL 5219 (Myerson A22.1.a).

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Houghton, Mifflin's later Riverside and Complete Works printings of Representative Men (from the 1880s on) reset the type and do not carry the 1850 Phillips, Sampson hourglass-stamped binding or the ads/no-ads first-state distinction.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Representative Men: Seven Lectures* by Ralph Waldo Emerson a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/representative-men-seven-lectures
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.