Is My The Conspiracy of Pontiac a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Boston: Little, Brown, 1851, a single octavo volume -- not yet split into the two volumes of Parkman's later revised printings -- collating xxiv, 630 pages with four maps, bound in brown cloth (Howes P100)
• This was Parkman's first published work of history, though not his first book overall: it followed his travel narrative "The Oregon Trail"
• by two years and opened the sequence of frontier and Indian-war histories that occupied the rest of his career
• Because Parkman kept revising the text for decades, a true first must show the single-volume 1851 collation and the Little, Brown imprint rather than the reset, expanded two-volume settings issued later under the same title

How Little, Brown and Company marked a first edition

• Pre-1930s (founded Boston 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown): there is NO first-edition statement in this era. Establish a first printing NEGATIVELY — confirm the date on the title page matches the copyright/…
• Time Inc. / Time Warner corporate era (Time Inc. bought L,B 1968; Time Warner Book Group from 1989; editorial/HQ moved from Boston to New York in 2001): the number-line-must-contain-1 rule holds throughout. Imprint on th…

Full Little, Brown and Company first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Starting with an enlarged edition in 1870 -- which incorporated newly available Bouquet and Haldimand papers from the British Museum -- Little, Brown reset and reissued the work as a two-volume "revised edition," and later folded it into multivolume "Works of Francis Parkman" library sets; these two-volume printings, despite the similar title and publisher, are not the 1851 first edition.P-035596

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Conspiracy of Pontiac a first edition?

A first edition of The Conspiracy of Pontiac by Francis Parkman (Little, Brown and Company) is identified by: Boston: Little, Brown, 1851, a single octavo volume -- not yet split into the two volumes of Parkman's later revised printings -- collating xxiv, 630 pages with four maps, bound in brown cloth (Howes P100).

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.

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

Starting with an enlarged edition in 1870 -- which incorporated newly available Bouquet and Haldimand papers from the British Museum -- Little, Brown reset and reissued the work as a two-volume "revised edition," and later folded it into multivolume "Works of Francis Parkman" library sets; these two-volume printings, despite the similar title and publisher, are not the 1851 first edition.

I have a first edition of The Conspiracy of Pontiac — 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.