# Is "The History of Henry Esmond" by William Makepeace Thackeray a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The History of Henry Esmond by William Makepeace Thackeray (Smith, Elder & Co., 1852) is identified by: Three volumes, printed in antique/old-face type to evoke the early eighteenth century, with sixteen pages of publisher's advertisements at the rear of Volume III; issued in publisher's cloth. The Smith, Elder three-volume edition of 1852 is the true first, with the distinctive antique-type setting and the sixteen-page advertisement section in Volume III.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Three volumes, printed in antique/old-face type to evoke the early eighteenth century, with sixteen pages of publisher's advertisements at the rear of Volume III; issued in publisher's cloth
- The antique-type setting is original to this first edition (cited in Thackeray bibliography as Van Duzer 85)
- Publisher imprint reads Smith, Elder & Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | William Makepeace Thackeray |
| Publisher | Smith, Elder & Co. |
| Year | 1852 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Three volumes, printed in antique/old-face type to evoke the early eighteenth century, with sixteen pages of publisher's advertisements at… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Three volumes, printed in antique/old-face type to evoke the early eighteenth century, with sixteen pages of publisher's advertisements at the rear of Volume III; issued in publisher's cloth. The antique-type setting is original to this first edition (cited in Thackeray bibliography as Van Duzer 85).

## Is this the true first?
The Smith, Elder three-volume edition of 1852 is the true first, with the distinctive antique-type setting and the sixteen-page advertisement section in Volume III.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later one-volume reprints are not the first edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The History of Henry Esmond* by William Makepeace Thackeray a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-history-of-henry-esmond
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.