# Is "The Courtship of Miles Standish" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Courtship of Miles Standish by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Ticknor and Fields, 1858) is identified by: First issue reads "treacherous" rather than "ruddy" on page 124, line 3. A London edition (W.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- 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
- Publisher imprint reads Ticknor and Fields
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Henry Wadsworth Longfellow |
| Publisher | Ticknor and Fields |
| Year | 1858 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | First issue reads "treacherous" rather than "ruddy" on page 124, line 3 |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## 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.

## 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.

## 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.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Courtship of Miles Standish* by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-courtship-of-miles-standish
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.