Is My The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes a First Edition?

The points of issue

• 315 x 210 mm), London: John Norton, 1597
• No edition or printing statement, no number line, no jacket; identification rests on the Norton imprint dated 1597 together with collation and completeness
• References: STC 11750
• ESTC S122353
• Henrey 154
• Nissen BBI 698

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
3. Verify this is the UK true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. 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.
5. 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?

London 1597 is the true first and the census claim is confirmed; there is no competing UK/US or original-language edition. Thomas Johnson's revision (London: Adam Islip, Joice Norton and Richard Whitakers, 1633) is a first-thus trap rather than a first edition: it is a different and much enlarged text, with a new engraved title-page by John Payne, roughly 2,500 woodcuts against the 1597's smaller complement, some 800 added species and around 700 added figures, plus Johnson's historical introduction. The census is right that the 1633 is bibliographically preferred and that both are collected, but a 1633 must never be catalogued as the first edition of the Herball.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issues exist. The single commonest misidentification is the 1636 reprint of the Johnson edition (same three publishers — Adam Islip, Joice Norton and Richard Whitakers; STC 11752; Henrey 156), which reprints the 1633 without alteration and differs essentially only in the date on the title-page; anyone reading the 1636 as a 1633 has the wrong book. Within the Johnson issues, four pages between 30 and 31 are misnumbered 29-30, 29-30 in both 1633 and 1636, so that misnumbering is not a distinguishing point. Modern photographic facsimiles exist and are identified by their own imprints and by modern paper and binding.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes a first edition?

A first edition of The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes by John Gerard (John Norton, London) is identified by: 315 x 210 mm), London: John Norton, 1597.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). London 1597 is the true first and the census claim is confirmed; there is no competing UK/US or original-language edition.

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

No book-club issues exist. The single commonest misidentification is the 1636 reprint of the Johnson edition (same three publishers — Adam Islip, Joice Norton and Richard Whitakers; STC 11752; Henrey 156), which reprints the 1633 without alteration and differs essentially only in the date on the title-page; anyone reading the 1636 as a 1633 has the wrong book. Within the Johnson issues, four pages between 30 and 31 are misnumbered 29-30, 29-30 in both 1633 and 1636, so that misnumbering is not a

I have a first edition of The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes — 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.