Is My The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition, first printing in book form, published 23 October 1839 by Chapman and Hall on completion of twenty monthly numbers (nineteen single parts plus a concluding double number) issued from April 1838
• Single-volume octavo (approximately 220 x 135mm) with a half title, an engraved portrait frontispiece by Daniel Maclise, and 39 plates by 'Phiz' (Hablot K. Browne); in the earliest state, the frontispiece and the first four plates carry the Chapman and Hall imprint, later removed
• Smith recorded forty-one internal textual points distinguishing early first-edition sheets, including 'visiter' for 'sister' (p
• 123), 'flys' for 'flies' (p
• 245), and 'visiters' for 'visitors' (p
• 272); because Chapman and Hall corrected the stereotype plates progressively during printing, few surviving copies show the complete set, and dealers describe individual copies by how many of Smith's points they retain

How Chapman and Hall marked a first edition

• No edition statement on early firsts: identify by title-page date, absence of later-printing wording, and (for serialized novels) by the original part-issue versus the bound volume.
• For Dickens part-issues (Pickwick, Nicholas Nickleby, Martin Chuzzlewit, Our Mutual Friend, Edwin Drood), correct plates/etchings, advertisement slips, and wrapper states are the diagnostic points; Pickwick is the classi…

Full Chapman and Hall first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. 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.
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?

Nicholas Nickleby first appeared in twenty monthly numbers issued in wrappers (April 1838-October 1839); that parts issue precedes this single-volume first edition in book form.P-034979

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Chapman and Hall's later Cheap Edition reset the text in a smaller, double-column format with different, fewer illustrations, readily distinguished from the full-page-plate first edition.P-034980

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby a first edition?

A first edition of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens (Chapman and Hall) is identified by: First edition, first printing in book form, published 23 October 1839 by Chapman and Hall on completion of twenty monthly numbers (nineteen single parts plus a concluding double number) issued from April 1838.

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. Nicholas Nickleby first appeared in twenty monthly numbers issued in wrappers (April 1838-October 1839); that parts issue precedes this single-volume first edition in book form.

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

Chapman and Hall's later Cheap Edition reset the text in a smaller, double-column format with different, fewer illustrations, readily distinguished from the full-page-plate first edition.

I have a first edition of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby — 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.