Is My Copy of Sonnets from the Portuguese (in Poems, New Edition) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• This "New Edition" of Barrett Browning's collected Poems (the second edition overall, following the 1844 Moxon first edition) is the true first appearance in print of the 44-sonnet sequence "Sonnets from the Portuguese," set at the end of volume II, pages 438-480
• Two volumes, small octavo, collating xii, 362, [1], [1]pp and viii, 480pp; two title-page states are known, the earlier reading "Chapman & Hall, 186, Strand" and the later "Chapman & Hall, 193, Piccadilly (Late 186, Strand)." Bound in the publisher's original teal-green blind-stamped cloth, spine lettered in gilt with the author's married name, "Elizth Barrett / Browning."

How Chapman and Hall marked a first edition

• No edition statement on early firsts: identify by title-page date, absence of later-printing wording, and (for serialized novels) by the original part-issue versus the bound volume.
• For Dickens part-issues (Pickwick, Nicholas Nickleby, Martin Chuzzlewit, Our Mutual Friend, Edwin Drood), correct plates/etchings, advertisement slips, and wrapper states are the diagnostic points; Pickwick is the…

Full Chapman and Hall first-edition guide →

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. 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.
5. 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 sonnets did not appear as a stand-alone publication; they first reached print buried within this two-volume "New Edition" of Poems. A supposed "Reading, 1847: Not for Publication" pamphlet edition of Sonnets from the Portuguese, once treated by some collectors as an ultra-rare true first, was exposed in 1934 by John Carter and Graham Pollard as a forgery manufactured by Thomas J. Wise no earlier than the 1880s; it has no bibliographic standing and must not be treated as preceding the 1850 Chapman and Hall Poems.P-035011

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Many decorative twentieth-century stand-alone editions of Sonnets from the Portuguese exist for gift-book purposes; none of these is a first edition, since Barrett Browning never issued the sequence alone in her lifetime.P-035012

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Sonnets from the Portuguese (in Poems, New Edition) a first edition?

A first edition of Sonnets from the Portuguese (in Poems, New Edition) by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (Chapman and Hall) is identified by: This "New Edition" of Barrett Browning's collected Poems (the second edition overall, following the 1844 Moxon first edition) is the true first appearance in print of the 44-sonnet sequence "Sonnets from the Portuguese," set at the end of volume II, pages 438-480.

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 sonnets did not appear as a stand-alone publication; they first reached print buried within this two-volume "New Edition" of Poems.

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

Many decorative twentieth-century stand-alone editions of Sonnets from the Portuguese exist for gift-book purposes; none of these is a first edition, since Barrett Browning never issued the sequence alone in her lifetime.

I have a first edition of Sonnets from the Portuguese (in Poems, New Edition) — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.