# Is "Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (Longmans, Green, and Co., 1886) is identified by: Issued simultaneously in light tan printed paper wrappers and in salmon-colored cloth. Precedence is between editions: the US Charles Scribner's Sons edition (published 5 January 1886) appeared four days before the UK Longmans wrappered issue, so the US edition has chronological priority; the UK Longmans is the first English edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Issued simultaneously in light tan printed paper wrappers and in salmon-colored cloth
- The book was originally prepared for December 1885; because the date had passed, the '5' in the date on the front wrapper was altered by hand to '6,' so the earliest wrappered copies show this hand-corrected '1886' date
- Title reads 'Strange Case' without a leading 'The.' Wrappers are generally taken to precede cloth within the Longmans issue
- Publisher imprint reads Longmans, Green, and Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Robert Louis Stevenson |
| Publisher | Longmans, Green, and Co. |
| Year | 1886 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Issued simultaneously in light tan printed paper wrappers and in salmon-colored cloth |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Issued simultaneously in light tan printed paper wrappers and in salmon-colored cloth. The book was originally prepared for December 1885; because the date had passed, the '5' in the date on the front wrapper was altered by hand to '6,' so the earliest wrappered copies show this hand-corrected '1886' date. Title reads 'Strange Case' without a leading 'The.' Wrappers are generally taken to precede cloth within the Longmans issue.

## Is this the true first?
Precedence is between editions: the US Charles Scribner's Sons edition (published 5 January 1886) appeared four days before the UK Longmans wrappered issue, so the US edition has chronological priority; the UK Longmans is the first English edition. Within the Longmans issue, wrappers precede cloth.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Cloth-only Longmans copies and copies with later-dated advertisements are later states; numerous reprints exist.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde* by Robert Louis Stevenson a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/strange-case-of-dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde
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.