# Is "Sylvie and Bruno Concluded" by Lewis Carroll a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Sylvie and Bruno Concluded by Lewis Carroll (Macmillan and Co., 1893) is identified by: Octavo, collating xxxi, [1], 423, [1]pp, with forty-six illustrations (ten full-page) by Harry Furniss and a tissue-guarded frontispiece.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Octavo, collating xxxi, [1], 423, [1]pp, with forty-six illustrations (ten full-page) by Harry Furniss and a tissue-guarded frontispiece
- First-edition copies carry four pages of Macmillan's advertising catalogue at the rear plus a fifth leaf reproducing a facsimile specimen page from Carroll's Alice's Adventures Under Ground
- The standard identifying point for the first issue is in the table of contents: Chapter VIII is listed as beginning on page 110, whereas later issues correct this to page 113, its actual position in the text
- A separate loose circular dated Christmas 1893 is also sometimes found with early copies, announcing that the current ('Sixtieth Thousand') printing of Through the Looking-Glass had defective illustrations and asking that copies be returned for exchange; as a disposable insert, it is now rarely found still present with surviving copies
- Publisher imprint reads Macmillan and Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Lewis Carroll |
| Publisher | Macmillan and Co. |
| Year | 1893 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | Octavo, collating xxxi, [1], 423, [1]pp, with forty-six illustrations (ten full-page) by Harry Furniss and a tissue-guarded frontispiece |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Octavo, collating xxxi, [1], 423, [1]pp, with forty-six illustrations (ten full-page) by Harry Furniss and a tissue-guarded frontispiece. First-edition copies carry four pages of Macmillan's advertising catalogue at the rear plus a fifth leaf reproducing a facsimile specimen page from Carroll's Alice's Adventures Under Ground. The standard identifying point for the first issue is in the table of contents: Chapter VIII is listed as beginning on page 110, whereas later issues correct this to page 113, its actual position in the text. A separate loose circular dated Christmas 1893 is also sometimes found with early copies, announcing that the current ('Sixtieth Thousand') printing of Through the Looking-Glass had defective illustrations and asking that copies be returned for exchange; as a disposable insert, it is now rarely found still present with surviving copies.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Sylvie and Bruno Concluded* by Lewis Carroll a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/sylvie-and-bruno-concluded
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.