Is My The Importance of Being Earnest a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Published February 1899 by Leonard Smithers in three issues, from sheets printed by the Chiswick Press in January 1899: 1,000 ordinary copies, 100 large-paper copies on handmade paper (numbered and signed by Wilde), and 12 copies on Japanese vellum
• The title page carries no author name; at Wilde's own instruction (his letter of 1 December 1898, 'You must add by the author of Lady Windermere's Fan') it reads 'A Trivial Comedy for Serious People, by the Author of "Lady Windermere's Fan"' — his name suppressed after his imprisonment
• Bound in dark mauve cloth with a spare botanical/gilt design by Charles Hazelwood Shannon, who had designed the covers for Lady Windermere's Fan and A Woman of No Importance
• Smithers imprint

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. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
3. 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.
4. 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?

The Smithers (London) 1899 edition is the true first — the play was staged in 1895 but not published until 1899. The 12 Japanese-vellum and the 100 large-paper copies are the premier states above the ordinary issue of 1,000; the large-paper (and vellum) copies bear Wilde's signature, notable given his post-prison disgrace. Wilde is unnamed on the title page of every issue.P-037068

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No period book-club edition. Any copy naming Oscar Wilde on the title page is a later edition (for example the Methuen collected-works printings from about 1908 onward), not the 1899 Smithers first, whose title page substitutes 'by the Author of "Lady Windermere's Fan".'P-037069

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Importance of Being Earnest a first edition?

A first edition of The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (Leonard Smithers and Co.) is identified by: Published February 1899 by Leonard Smithers in three issues, from sheets printed by the Chiswick Press in January 1899: 1,000 ordinary copies, 100 large-paper copies on handmade paper (numbered and signed by Wilde), and 12 copies on Japanese vellum.

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

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. The Smithers (London) 1899 edition is the true first — the play was staged in 1895 but not published until 1899.

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

No period book-club edition. Any copy naming Oscar Wilde on the title page is a later edition (for example the Methuen collected-works printings from about 1908 onward), not the 1899 Smithers first, whose title page substitutes 'by the Author of "Lady Windermere's Fan".'

I have a first edition of The Importance of Being Earnest — 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.