# Is "The Chemical History of a Candle" by Michael Faraday a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Chemical History of a Candle by Michael Faraday (Griffin, Bohn and Company, 1861) is identified by: First book-form edition of Faraday's six Royal Institution Christmas lectures, edited by William Crookes, who had serialized the lectures in his periodical Chemical News in early 1861 before Griffin, Bohn's London book edition appeared in March 1861. The London (Griffin, Bohn) book edition has precedence over the New York (Harper & Brothers) edition, also dated 1861.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First book-form edition of Faraday's six Royal Institution Christmas lectures, edited by William Crookes, who had serialized the lectures in his periodical Chemical News in early 1861 before Griffin, Bohn's London book edition appeared in March 1861
- Illustrated throughout with in-text diagrams of Faraday's demonstration apparatus
- Original British binding is green cloth with the title lettered in gilt on the spine
- Publisher imprint reads Griffin, Bohn and Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Michael Faraday |
| Publisher | Griffin, Bohn and Company |
| Year | 1861 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First book-form edition of Faraday's six Royal Institution Christmas lectures, edited by William Crookes, who had serialized the lectures… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First book-form edition of Faraday's six Royal Institution Christmas lectures, edited by William Crookes, who had serialized the lectures in his periodical Chemical News in early 1861 before Griffin, Bohn's London book edition appeared in March 1861. Illustrated throughout with in-text diagrams of Faraday's demonstration apparatus. Original British binding is green cloth with the title lettered in gilt on the spine.

## Is this the true first?
The London (Griffin, Bohn) book edition has precedence over the New York (Harper & Brothers) edition, also dated 1861.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Countless later reprints -- Routledge, Chatto & Windus, and 20th-century school and juvenile editions -- shorten the book's original full title, A Course of Six Lectures on the Chemical History of a Candle: To Which Is Added a Lecture on Platinum, to simply The Chemical History of a Candle, and reset the type; only the 1861 Griffin, Bohn (or, for the first American printing, Harper & Brothers) imprint under the original full title is first-edition material.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Chemical History of a Candle* by Michael Faraday a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-chemical-history-of-a-candle
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.