Is My Copy of The Courtship of Miles Standish a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First issue reads "treacherous" rather than "ruddy" on page 124, line 3
• First-issue copies carry twelve pages of publisher's advertisements at the rear dated October 1858; copies with sixteen pages of advertisements dated November 1858 represent a later state from the same stereotype plates
• Bound in brown ribbed cloth decorated in blind with the title in gilt on the spine; cited as BAL 12122

How Ticknor and Fields marked a first edition

• No formal first-edition statement existed; rely on date agreement: the year on the title page should match the copyright date with no later printing noted.
• First printings carry a dated title page and frequently a publisher's catalogue/advertisement section at the rear; rear-ad dates can help establish printing priority.

Full Ticknor and Fields 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.

Is this the true first?

A London edition (W. Kent and Co.) also appeared in 1858, cataloged separately in the trade as BAL 12121; dealers generally treat the London printing as preceding this Ticknor and Fields Boston edition, so a copy should be checked for a Ticknor and Fields, Boston title page before the points above are applied.P-035130

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later Ticknor & Fields/Houghton Mifflin resettings and inclusion in the collected "Poetical Works" lack the October-dated advertisement gathering and the "treacherous" textual point described above.P-035131

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Courtship of Miles Standish a first edition?

A first edition of The Courtship of Miles Standish by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Ticknor and Fields) is identified by: First issue reads "treacherous" rather than "ruddy" on page 124, line 3.

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. A London edition (W. Kent and Co.) also appeared in 1858, cataloged separately in the trade as BAL 12121; dealers generally treat the London printing as preceding this Ticknor and Fields Boston edition, so a copy should be checked for a Ticknor and Fields, Boston title page before the points above are applied.

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

Later Ticknor & Fields/Houghton Mifflin resettings and inclusion in the collected "Poetical Works" lack the October-dated advertisement gathering and the "treacherous" textual point described above.

I have a first edition of The Courtship of Miles Standish — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.