Is My The Adventures of Philip on His Way Through the World a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition, three volumes, octavo, collating [5],329pp.; [4],304pp.; [4],301pp., following serialization in the Cornhill Magazine from January 1861 to August 1862, for which Thackeray drew the first illustrations himself before turning the series over to Frederick Walker to complete
• The true first issue is bound in the publisher's green pebbled cloth with the title in gilt on the spine and yellow endpapers
• A second issue of the same year appeared in brown cloth with more conventional blind-and-gilt blocking on the covers
• John Carter's Binding Variants in English Publishing records a print run of 1,520 copies for that later state
• Cited as Sadleir 3186 and Wolff 4088

How Smith, Elder & Co. marked a first edition

• Original publisher's cloth binding (blind- and gilt-stamped), correct half-titles present, and an uncut or unopened text block support a first-issue state.

Full Smith, Elder & Co. 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?

Bernhard Tauchnitz's Leipzig edition of the same year, in two volumes, was a Continental 'copyright edition' for sale outside Britain and is not a competing first edition; the Smith, Elder & Co. three-volume London printing is the accepted first edition.P-034807

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Sets bound in brown cloth with more conventional blind-and-gilt blocking (Sadleir's second issue) are a later 1862 state of the same first-edition text, not the scarcer true-first green pebbled-cloth issue.P-034808

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Adventures of Philip on His Way Through the World a first edition?

A first edition of The Adventures of Philip on His Way Through the World by William Makepeace Thackeray (Smith, Elder & Co.) is identified by: First edition, three volumes, octavo, collating [5],329pp.; [4],304pp.; [4],301pp., following serialization in the Cornhill Magazine from January 1861 to August 1862, for which Thackeray drew the first illustrations himself before turning the series over to Frederick Walker to complete.

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. Bernhard Tauchnitz's Leipzig edition of the same year, in two volumes, was a Continental 'copyright edition' for sale outside Britain and is not a competing first edition; the Smith, Elder & Co.

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

Sets bound in brown cloth with more conventional blind-and-gilt blocking (Sadleir's second issue) are a later 1862 state of the same first-edition text, not the scarcer true-first green pebbled-cloth issue.

I have a first edition of The Adventures of Philip on His Way Through the World — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

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.