# Is "The Antiquary" by Walter Scott a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Antiquary by Walter Scott (Archibald Constable and Co., 1816) is identified by: First edition, three volumes, published anonymously ('by the author of Waverley and Guy Mannering') and issued in Edinburgh on 4 May 1816, with the London issue following on 8 May. The Edinburgh (Constable) issue of 4 May 1816 precedes the London (Longman) issue of 8 May 1816.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, three volumes, published anonymously ('by the author of Waverley and Guy Mannering') and issued in Edinburgh on 4 May 1816, with the London issue following on 8 May
- Pagination runs to viii + 336, 348, and 372 pages across the three volumes, and each volume carries its own original half-title as issued
- The 6,000-copy first edition reportedly sold out within three weeks, and the novel was said to be Scott's own favorite among his novels; the resulting second edition did not appear until roughly three months after publication, so only sheets from this initial May 1816 setting represent the true first edition
- Worthington's bibliography further records that pages 27 to 30 of volume one (the leaves signed b2 and b3) are a cancel present in every first-edition copy examined
- Publisher imprint reads Archibald Constable and Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Walter Scott |
| Publisher | Archibald Constable and Co. |
| Year | 1816 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, three volumes, published anonymously ('by the author of Waverley and Guy Mannering') and issued in Edinburgh on 4 May 1816… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, three volumes, published anonymously ('by the author of Waverley and Guy Mannering') and issued in Edinburgh on 4 May 1816, with the London issue following on 8 May. Pagination runs to viii + 336, 348, and 372 pages across the three volumes, and each volume carries its own original half-title as issued. The 6,000-copy first edition reportedly sold out within three weeks, and the novel was said to be Scott's own favorite among his novels; the resulting second edition did not appear until roughly three months after publication, so only sheets from this initial May 1816 setting represent the true first edition. Worthington's bibliography further records that pages 27 to 30 of volume one (the leaves signed b2 and b3) are a cancel present in every first-edition copy examined.

## Is this the true first?
The Edinburgh (Constable) issue of 4 May 1816 precedes the London (Longman) issue of 8 May 1816.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
A revised second edition followed roughly three months after the first and is not the true first edition; because both appeared within the same year, buyers should confirm the recorded collation and the volume-one cancel leaf described above rather than relying on the title-page date alone to establish precedence.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Antiquary* by Walter Scott a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-antiquary
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.