# Is "The Idiot" by Fyodor Dostoevsky a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky (First separate book edition, St. Petersburg, 1874) is identified by: True first appearance is the Russian serial in Russkiy Vestnik (The Russian Messenger), 1868-1869; the first separate book edition followed in St. Russian is the true first (serial 1868-69; first book edition 1874, St.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first appearance is the Russian serial in Russkiy Vestnik (The Russian Messenger), 1868-1869; the first separate book edition followed in St
- Petersburg in 1874, issued through Anna Dostoevskaya's own publishing venture with the text revised by Dostoevsky (some bibliographies therefore count the serial as the 'first' and the 1874 book as the 'second' edition)
- Granular first-state points (wrappers/binding variants) for the 1874 Russian edition are not documented in accessible English-language references, so it is identified by imprint and date rather than by issue state
- The first English edition is Frederick Whishaw's translation, London: Vizetelly & Co
- (with Brentano's, New York, as the American agent), 1887, one volume of roughly 489 pp. — the practically collected English first
- Publisher imprint reads First separate book edition, St. Petersburg
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Fyodor Dostoevsky |
| Publisher | First separate book edition, St. Petersburg |
| Year | 1874 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | True first appearance is the Russian serial in Russkiy Vestnik (The Russian Messenger), 1868-1869; the first separate book edition followed… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
True first appearance is the Russian serial in Russkiy Vestnik (The Russian Messenger), 1868-1869; the first separate book edition followed in St. Petersburg in 1874, issued through Anna Dostoevskaya's own publishing venture with the text revised by Dostoevsky (some bibliographies therefore count the serial as the 'first' and the 1874 book as the 'second' edition). Granular first-state points (wrappers/binding variants) for the 1874 Russian edition are not documented in accessible English-language references, so it is identified by imprint and date rather than by issue state. The first English edition is Frederick Whishaw's translation, London: Vizetelly & Co. (with Brentano's, New York, as the American agent), 1887, one volume of roughly 489 pp. — the practically collected English first.

## Is this the true first?
Russian is the true first (serial 1868-69; first book edition 1874, St. Petersburg). First English is Vizetelly & Co., London, 1887 (Whishaw); the London house is publisher of record with Brentano's, New York, as US distributor, so the UK imprint has precedence over any separate US appearance.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
An 1882 St. Petersburg edition (styled 'third edition' on the title) is a later Russian reprint. The ubiquitous Constance Garnett translation (Heinemann, 1913) is a much later English reprint/'first thus,' not the first English edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Idiot* by Fyodor Dostoevsky a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-idiot
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.