# Is "Rupert of Hentzau" by Anthony Hope a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Rupert of Hentzau by Anthony Hope (J. W. Arrowsmith, 1898) is identified by: First published in book form by J. An American edition, also illustrated by Charles Dana Gibson, was published the same year by Henry Holt & Co., New York; it does not have priority over the Arrowsmith Bristol first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First published in book form by J. W. Arrowsmith, Bristol, in 1898; the sequel to The Prisoner of Zenda, it was written in 1895 but withheld from book publication until after serialization in Pall Mall Magazine and McClure's Magazine (December 1897-June 1898)
- The first edition is illustrated with eight full-page plates by Charles Dana Gibson, including a tissue-guarded frontispiece, and is bound in blue-green cloth (dealers describe the shade as 'petrol blue') with gilt lettering on the spine and front cover
- First-issue copies carry rear advertisements for 32 titles in Arrowsmith's series of popular novels, as against a single leaf listing only 13 titles in a later issue
- Publisher imprint reads J. W. Arrowsmith
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Anthony Hope |
| Publisher | J. W. Arrowsmith |
| Year | 1898 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First published in book form by J. W. Arrowsmith, Bristol, in 1898; the sequel to The Prisoner of Zenda, it was written in 1895 but… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First published in book form by J. W. Arrowsmith, Bristol, in 1898; the sequel to The Prisoner of Zenda, it was written in 1895 but withheld from book publication until after serialization in Pall Mall Magazine and McClure's Magazine (December 1897-June 1898). The first edition is illustrated with eight full-page plates by Charles Dana Gibson, including a tissue-guarded frontispiece, and is bound in blue-green cloth (dealers describe the shade as 'petrol blue') with gilt lettering on the spine and front cover. First-issue copies carry rear advertisements for 32 titles in Arrowsmith's series of popular novels, as against a single leaf listing only 13 titles in a later issue.

## Is this the true first?
An American edition, also illustrated by Charles Dana Gibson, was published the same year by Henry Holt & Co., New York; it does not have priority over the Arrowsmith Bristol first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later reprints, including 20th-century and modern paperback editions, lack Gibson's original plates and tissue-guarded frontispiece and are not the 1898 first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Rupert of Hentzau* by Anthony Hope a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/rupert-of-hentzau
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.