# Is "The Age of Innocence" by Edith Wharton a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton (D. Appleton and Company, 1920) is identified by: Title page dated in Roman numerals MCMXX, copyright 1920. Appleton issued the book in New York and London in October 1920.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Title page dated in Roman numerals MCMXX, copyright 1920
- The definitive first-printing point is a parenthetical
- printed before THE END on the last page of text, Appleton's house code for the first printing
- A second, corroborating point appears on page 186, line 7: in first printings the wedding-service line reads 'Forasmuch as it hath please Almighty God'; later printings (as early as the fourth) change it to 'Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here.' Orange/red cloth; first-issue dust jacket shows a small Victorian child after the Reynolds painting
- Publisher imprint reads D. Appleton and Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Edith Wharton |
| Publisher | D. Appleton and Company |
| Year | 1920 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Title page dated in Roman numerals MCMXX, copyright 1920 |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Title page dated in Roman numerals MCMXX, copyright 1920. The definitive first-printing point is a parenthetical (1) printed before THE END on the last page of text, Appleton's house code for the first printing. A second, corroborating point appears on page 186, line 7: in first printings the wedding-service line reads 'Forasmuch as it hath please Almighty God'; later printings (as early as the fourth) change it to 'Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here.' Orange/red cloth; first-issue dust jacket shows a small Victorian child after the Reynolds painting.

## Is this the true first?
Appleton issued the book in New York and London in October 1920. Both were the same publisher in the same year; collectors treat the New York issue with the last-page (1) code as the first. No clear precedence point separates the two beyond the (1) code itself.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Appleton printings carry a higher last-page code or none, and show the revised page 186 wording. Grosset & Dunlap and book-club reprints lack the (1) code and are clearly later.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Age of Innocence* by Edith Wharton a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-age-of-innocence
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.