Is My Robinson Crusoe (The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• London: printed for W. Taylor at the Ship in Pater-Noster-Row, 1719; octavo, published 25 April 1719 in an edition of about 1,000 copies
• The title-page of Part I carries NO edition statement — any 1719 title reading "The Second Edition," "The Third Edition" or "The Fourth Edition" is a later 1719 printing, not the first
• Taylor ran through four editions within roughly four months
• Part I has an engraved frontispiece portrait of Crusoe by Clark & Pine; the folding engraved world map belongs to Part II (Farther Adventures), not to Part I, so its absence from Part I is not a defect
• Hutchins records three settings each of the title-leaf and the preface plus variant settings of leaf Z4 recto (p
• The commonly cited readings are: title in the second Hutchins variant (semi-colon after "London" in the imprint); preface in the third variant (first page ending "Men always," catchword "apply," second page beginning "apply them"); and Z4r in the state misprinting "Pilot" as "Pilate" (line 2) and "Portuguese" as "Portugnese" (line 21)

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?

The census claim is CORRECT: W. Taylor, London, 25 April 1719 is the true first, and there is no earlier or foreign-language edition to displace it — Defoe wrote in English and Taylor published in London. No UK/US precedence question arises; the first American edition is much later and is not the collected form. The sequels are separate first editions completing the set, not part of the first edition of Part I: The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (W. Taylor, London, August 1719; the second issue is identified by the advertisement for the fourth edition of Part I printed on the verso of A4) and Serious Reflections During the Life and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (W. Taylor, London, 1720), which was never reprinted in Defoe's lifetime. "First thus" trap: nearly every dealer listing headed "Robinson Crusoe first edition" is a first-thus — first illustrated, first of a particular translation, or first of a press's setting.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition exists in the modern sense for a 1719 imprint. The documented reprint tells donors will actually meet: (1) any title-page bearing an edition statement ("The Second/Third/Fourth Edition") — these are Hutchins's later 1719-1731 printings, not the first; (2) Victorian children's and illustrated editions from 1736 onward, which are the overwhelming majority of donated Crusoes; (3) 20th-century press and subscription reprints — Everyman's Library, Limited Editions Club / Heritage Press, and Franklin Library — identifiable by modern paper, publisher's cloth or leatherette, and a 20th-century copyright or colophon leaf. A genuine 1719 Taylor octavo will be in contemporary panelled calf or a later fine binding, with no modern imprint anywhere in the book.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Robinson Crusoe (The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe) a first edition?

A first edition of Robinson Crusoe (The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe) by Daniel Defoe (W. Taylor, London) is identified by: London: printed for W.

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. The census claim is CORRECT: W.

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

No book-club edition exists in the modern sense for a 1719 imprint. The documented reprint tells donors will actually meet: (1) any title-page bearing an edition statement ("The Second/Third/Fourth Edition") — these are Hutchins's later 1719-1731 printings, not the first; (2) Victorian children's and illustrated editions from 1736 onward, which are the overwhelming majority of donated Crusoes; (3) 20th-century press and subscription reprints — Everyman's Library, Limited Editions Club / Heritage

I have a first edition of Robinson Crusoe (The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe) — 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.