# Is "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby" by Charles Dickens a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens (Chapman and Hall, 1839) 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. 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.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- 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
- Publisher imprint reads Chapman and Hall

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Charles Dickens |
| Publisher | Chapman and Hall |
| Year | 1839 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first printing in book form, published 23 October 1839 by Chapman and Hall on completion of twenty monthly numbers (nineteen… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## 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. Original binding is dark olive-green fine-diaper cloth, covers framed in blind with a chain-like inner border, spine ruled in five panels lettered in gilt.

## 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.

## 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.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby* by Charles Dickens a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-life-and-adventures-of-nicholas-nickleby
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.