# Is "Snow-Bound: A Winter Idyl" by John Greenleaf Whittier a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Snow-Bound: A Winter Idyl by John Greenleaf Whittier (Ticknor and Fields, 1866) is identified by: First issue has a page number printed at the foot of page 52, the last page of text; this folio was dropped from the plates for the second issue.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First issue has a page number printed at the foot of page 52, the last page of text; this folio was dropped from the plates for the second issue
- Collates with an engraved frontispiece portrait of Whittier under a tissue guard, an engraved homestead vignette on the title page, and 52 pages of text, with a headpiece and initial letter by Harry Fenn
- Bound in 12mo, russet or green textured cloth with gilt stamping on the front cover and spine and pale yellow endpapers; cited as BAL 21862
- Publisher imprint reads Ticknor and Fields
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | John Greenleaf Whittier |
| Publisher | Ticknor and Fields |
| Year | 1866 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | First issue has a page number printed at the foot of page 52, the last page of text; this folio was dropped from the plates for the second… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First issue has a page number printed at the foot of page 52, the last page of text; this folio was dropped from the plates for the second issue. Collates with an engraved frontispiece portrait of Whittier under a tissue guard, an engraved homestead vignette on the title page, and 52 pages of text, with a headpiece and initial letter by Harry Fenn. Bound in 12mo, russet or green textured cloth with gilt stamping on the front cover and spine and pale yellow endpapers; cited as BAL 21862.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Many later illustrated gift-book printings of Snow-Bound, produced well into the twentieth century with expanded illustration programs, are resettings and do not carry the dropped/present page-52 folio point that distinguishes the true 1866 first and second issues.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Snow-Bound: A Winter Idyl* by John Greenleaf Whittier a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/snow-bound-a-winter-idyl
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.