Is My The Brothers Karamazov (Brat'ya Karamazovy) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• True first appearance: serially in Russkii Vestnik (The Russian Messenger), January 1879 – November 1880
• First edition in book form: Panteleev Brothers, St
• Petersburg, title-dated 1881 but actually released December 1880, in two volumes, text in Russian Cyrillic, paginated 509 and 699 pp
• The half-titles are the key point — they are present in the first edition and are frequently absent from surviving copies, so a complete set retains both
• Commonly encountered in contemporary Russian trade bindings of quarter calf over pebble-grain black cloth sides, spines lettered in gilt in Cyrillic, often with owner's initials at the spine foot; publisher's wrappers are rare
• The first edition sold out quickly, and Dostoevsky died weeks after publication

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

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?

CENSUS CORRECTED. The census gives the first book edition as Moscow; it is St. Petersburg, published by the Panteleev Brothers, 1881 (released December 1880). The Russkii Vestnik serial (1879–80) was the Moscow journal in which the novel first appeared, which is likely the source of the census's city error. The first English-language edition is Constance Garnett's translation, William Heinemann, London, 1912 — the first book in her series 'The Novels of Fyodor Dostoevsky' — in a single octavo volume, original full red cloth, blind-stamped central ornament, gilt-stamped ornamental spine lettered THE NOVELS / OF / FIODOR / MICHAEILOWITCH / DOSTOEVSKY / THE / BROTHERS / KARAMAZOV / HEINEMANN, bottom edge uncut. At least three Heinemann binding variants are recorded with no priority established, including copies bearing the imprint of Henry Frowde on the spine while retaining the Heinemann blind-stamp to the lower board. Both the Russian 1881 first and the Heinemann 1912 first-in-English are collected.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The significant reprint tell on the English side: the American edition (Macmillan) was made up from the British Heinemann sheets with a cancelled title page, and is the more commonly encountered of the two — check whether the title leaf is a cancel (a stub or uneven conjugacy at the title) before treating a copy as the London first. Garnett's translation was reprinted continuously through the 20th century and is the text behind most later trade, book-club, and Everyman/Modern Library issues, all of which are 'first thus' at best.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Brothers Karamazov (Brat'ya Karamazovy) a first edition?

A first edition of The Brothers Karamazov (Brat'ya Karamazovy) by Fyodor Dostoevsky (Bratya Panteleevy) is identified by: True first appearance: serially in Russkii Vestnik (The Russian Messenger), January 1879 – November 1880.

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. CENSUS CORRECTED.

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

The significant reprint tell on the English side: the American edition (Macmillan) was made up from the British Heinemann sheets with a cancelled title page, and is the more commonly encountered of the two — check whether the title leaf is a cancel (a stub or uneven conjugacy at the title) before treating a copy as the London first. Garnett's translation was reprinted continuously through the 20th century and is the text behind most later trade, book-club, and Everyman/Modern Library issues, all

I have a first edition of The Brothers Karamazov (Brat'ya Karamazovy) — 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.