# Is "The Bostonians" by Henry James a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Bostonians by Henry James (Macmillan and Co., 1886) is identified by: The British first edition, three volumes, published February 16, 1886, limited to 500 copies, is bound in dark blue-green fine-grained cloth with black rules to the boards and gilt-and-black spine lettering, with brown coated endpapers; terminal publisher's advertisements appear in volumes two and three only. The Macmillan London three-volume edition of February 1886 has precedence over the Macmillan New York one-volume edition of May 1886.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The British first edition, three volumes, published February 16, 1886, limited to 500 copies, is bound in dark blue-green fine-grained cloth with black rules to the boards and gilt-and-black spine lettering, with brown coated endpapers; terminal publisher's advertisements appear in volumes two and three only
- A key issue point is a running head on page 31 of volume one mistakenly reading chapter 'II' instead of 'III'
- The one-volume American edition followed in May 1886; its first issue carries two pages of publisher's advertisements at the rear with prices given in dollars
- Publisher imprint reads Macmillan and Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Henry James |
| Publisher | Macmillan and Co. |
| Year | 1886 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The British first edition, three volumes, published February 16, 1886, limited to 500 copies, is bound in dark blue-green fine-grained… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The British first edition, three volumes, published February 16, 1886, limited to 500 copies, is bound in dark blue-green fine-grained cloth with black rules to the boards and gilt-and-black spine lettering, with brown coated endpapers; terminal publisher's advertisements appear in volumes two and three only. A key issue point is a running head on page 31 of volume one mistakenly reading chapter 'II' instead of 'III'. The one-volume American edition followed in May 1886; its first issue carries two pages of publisher's advertisements at the rear with prices given in dollars.

## Is this the true first?
The Macmillan London three-volume edition of February 1886 has precedence over the Macmillan New York one-volume edition of May 1886.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Bostonians* by Henry James a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-bostonians
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.