# Is "The Egoist" by George Meredith a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Egoist by George Meredith (C. Kegan Paul & Co., 1879) is identified by: Kegan Paul & Co., London, 1879, in three volumes — the standard Victorian triple-decker (Sadleir 1692). The London Kegan Paul three-decker of 1879 is the uncontested true first (the novel ran serially in the Glasgow Weekly Herald, 21 June 1879–10 January 1880, overlapping book publication).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first is C. Kegan Paul & Co., London, 1879, in three volumes — the standard Victorian triple-decker (Sadleir 1692)
- Collation: Vol
- I v, 337 pp plus 2 pp advertisements
- II iv, 320 pp with a 32-page publisher's catalogue dated '8.79' (August 1879)
- III iv, 353 pp — the dated catalogue bound into Vol
- II is a useful first-issue aid, and half-titles are present
- Publisher imprint reads C. Kegan Paul & Co.

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | George Meredith |
| Publisher | C. Kegan Paul & Co. |
| Year | 1879 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | True first is C. Kegan Paul & Co., London, 1879, in three volumes — the standard Victorian triple-decker (Sadleir 1692) |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
True first is C. Kegan Paul & Co., London, 1879, in three volumes — the standard Victorian triple-decker (Sadleir 1692). Collation: Vol. I v, 337 pp plus 2 pp advertisements; Vol. II iv, 320 pp with a 32-page publisher's catalogue dated '8.79' (August 1879); Vol. III iv, 353 pp — the dated catalogue bound into Vol. II is a useful first-issue aid, and half-titles are present. Original binding is olive-green (some copies described as brownish) morocco-grain cloth, spines lettered in gilt with a decorative band stamped in black.

## Is this the true first?
The London Kegan Paul three-decker of 1879 is the uncontested true first (the novel ran serially in the Glasgow Weekly Herald, 21 June 1879–10 January 1880, overlapping book publication). The census note's claim that 'US Harper followed' could NOT be confirmed: no 1879 American Harper edition was located; Meredith's authorised US publisher was Roberts Brothers of Boston (a later US appearance), and the 1913 New York Scribner text is a revised 'first thus.'

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Beware 'first thus' traps: single-volume, collected-edition and later trade reprints are not the 1879 three-decker, and the later de-luxe bindings bearing a gilt facsimile 'George Meredith' signature on the front board are NOT the first edition. Later issues also drop the '8.79' publisher's catalogue.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Egoist* by George Meredith a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-egoist
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.