# Is "Salome" by Oscar Wilde a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Salome by Oscar Wilde (Elkin Mathews & John Lane, 1894) is identified by: First edition in English, published 24 February 1894; the translator is not credited on the title page, though the English text was principally the work of Lord Alfred Douglas, who is acknowledged only in Wilde's dedication. The London (Mathews & Lane) and Boston (Copeland & Day) imprints were issued from the same setting at essentially the same time in February 1894 to secure copyright in both Britain and the United States; the two are usually treated as a joint first edition rather than one preceding the other.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition in English, published 24 February 1894; the translator is not credited on the title page, though the English text was principally the work of Lord Alfred Douglas, who is acknowledged only in Wilde's dedication
- Quarto, illustrated with 13 drawings by Aubrey Beardsley
- Ordinary trade issue of 500 copies printed on smaller paper and bound in blue canvas boards; a separate large-paper issue of 100 copies was printed on Japanese vellum and bound in green silk-covered boards
- Publisher imprint reads Elkin Mathews & John Lane
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Oscar Wilde |
| Publisher | Elkin Mathews & John Lane |
| Year | 1894 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition in English, published 24 February 1894; the translator is not credited on the title page, though the English text was… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition in English, published 24 February 1894; the translator is not credited on the title page, though the English text was principally the work of Lord Alfred Douglas, who is acknowledged only in Wilde's dedication. Quarto, illustrated with 13 drawings by Aubrey Beardsley. Ordinary trade issue of 500 copies printed on smaller paper and bound in blue canvas boards; a separate large-paper issue of 100 copies was printed on Japanese vellum and bound in green silk-covered boards.

## Is this the true first?
The London (Mathews & Lane) and Boston (Copeland & Day) imprints were issued from the same setting at essentially the same time in February 1894 to secure copyright in both Britain and the United States; the two are usually treated as a joint first edition rather than one preceding the other. The original French-language Salome had already appeared in Paris and London in 1893 — this 1894 edition is specifically the first edition IN ENGLISH.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Salome* by Oscar Wilde a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/salome
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.