# Is "The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade" by Herman Melville a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade by Herman Melville (Dix, Edwards & Co., 1857) is identified by: First edition, published by Dix, Edwards & Co., New York, and deliberately released on April Fools' Day, April 1, 1857 (though not deposited for copyright until May 2) -- an apt date given the novel's subject. The New York printing (Dix, Edwards & Co., April 1, 1857) and the London printing (Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, & Roberts, a separate setting issued within days in early April 1857) appeared almost simultaneously; the American printing described here, catalogued as BAL 13670, is what collectors and booksellers generally treat as 'the first edition.'

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, published by Dix, Edwards & Co., New York, and deliberately released on April Fools' Day, April 1, 1857 (though not deposited for copyright until May 2) -- an apt date given the novel's subject
- Collates [6, blank], vi, 394, [2, blank] pp.; the correct first-printing copyright page carries the 'Miller & Holman' printer's imprint, and BAL notes an initial blank leaf pasted under the front endpaper in genuine first-printing copies
- Bound in publisher's cloth, spine lettered in gilt, covers blindstamped with borders and central arabesque devices, yellow endpapers
- This was the last novel Melville published in his lifetime
- Publisher imprint reads Dix, Edwards & Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Herman Melville |
| Publisher | Dix, Edwards & Co. |
| Year | 1857 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, published by Dix, Edwards & Co., New York, and deliberately released on April Fools' Day, April 1, 1857 (though not… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First edition, published by Dix, Edwards & Co., New York, and deliberately released on April Fools' Day, April 1, 1857 (though not deposited for copyright until May 2) -- an apt date given the novel's subject. Collates [6, blank], vi, 394, [2, blank] pp.; the correct first-printing copyright page carries the 'Miller & Holman' printer's imprint, and BAL notes an initial blank leaf pasted under the front endpaper in genuine first-printing copies. Bound in publisher's cloth, spine lettered in gilt, covers blindstamped with borders and central arabesque devices, yellow endpapers. This was the last novel Melville published in his lifetime.

## Is this the true first?
The New York printing (Dix, Edwards & Co., April 1, 1857) and the London printing (Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, & Roberts, a separate setting issued within days in early April 1857) appeared almost simultaneously; the American printing described here, catalogued as BAL 13670, is what collectors and booksellers generally treat as 'the first edition.'

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The novel went unreprinted for decades; later 20th-century scholarly editions (beginning with early Melville-revival reprints) are plainly modern productions and do not replicate the blindstamped arabesque cloth or the pasted-blank-leaf construction of the 1857 first printing.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade* by Herman Melville a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-confidence-man-his-masquerade
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.