Is My The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman a First Edition?

The points of issue

• THE decisive point for Volumes I-II: the true first was printed at York by Ann (Anne) Ward in December 1759, and its title-pages are DATED 1760 BUT CARRY NO PLACE AND NO PUBLISHER'S IMPRINT — the imprint line is simply absent
• Any Volume I-II title-page naming Dodsley, or naming York and a bookseller, is a later edition
• The York printing was tiny (perhaps 200 copies, certainly no more than 500)
• Volume I of the true first LACKS the frontispiece: the Hogarth-illustrated frontispiece was ADDED to Dodsley's second, London edition (published 2 April 1760) — its presence in Vol
• I is a disqualifying tell, not a bonus
• Sterne began signing genuine volumes to defeat piracy: his autograph signature in ink appears at the head of the first text page (B1) of Volumes V, VII and IX, and these signatures are CALLED FOR — an unsigned Vol

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. Verify this is the UK true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
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?

The census direction is CORRECT but the year needs correcting. The batch gives 1759; the books themselves say 1760. The accurate statement: Volumes I-II were PRINTED at York by Ann Ward in late December 1759 and issued with title-pages DATED 1760 — catalogued in the scholarly literature as "1760 [i.e. 1759]." Cite it as 1760 (York printing, December 1759), never as a bare 1759, because no 1759-dated title-page exists. The census is also right that the York I-II are the prize and that mixed sets are the norm: Dodsley bought the copyright in March 1760 and his London second edition of I-II is far commoner than the York first, so nine-volume "first edition" sets are routinely made up with Dodsley I-II. There is no UK-vs-US or original-language precedence issue — Sterne wrote in English and the York printing is the first appearance anywhere. A complete first is the York I-II plus the London Dodsley III-IV plus the Becket & Dehondt V-IX, with Sterne's signatures in V, VII and IX.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition exists for a 1760-67 imprint. Documented reprint tells: (1) Dodsley's London second edition of Vols I-II (2 April 1760) WITH the Hogarth frontispiece and a full London imprint — the single most common substitution in "first edition" sets; (2) contemporary piracies, which is precisely why Sterne signed B1 of Vols V, VII and IX — an unsigned copy of those volumes should be treated as suspect; (3) 19th-century collected Works and Victorian illustrated editions; (4) 20th-century press and subscription reprints (Limited Editions Club / Heritage Press, Folio Society) with modern paper, a colophon, and a 20th-century imprint. A genuine York Vol. I has no imprint line at all — that absence is the tell.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman a first edition?

A first edition of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne ([Ann Ward], York) is identified by: THE decisive point for Volumes I-II: the true first was printed at York by Ann (Anne) Ward in December 1759, and its title-pages are DATED 1760 BUT CARRY NO PLACE AND NO PUBLISHER'S IMPRINT — the imprint line is simply absent.

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 census direction is CORRECT but the year needs correcting.

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

No book-club edition exists for a 1760-67 imprint. Documented reprint tells: (1) Dodsley's London second edition of Vols I-II (2 April 1760) WITH the Hogarth frontispiece and a full London imprint — the single most common substitution in "first edition" sets; (2) contemporary piracies, which is precisely why Sterne signed B1 of Vols V, VII and IX — an unsigned copy of those volumes should be treated as suspect; (3) 19th-century collected Works and Victorian illustrated editions; (4) 20th-century

I have a first edition of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman — 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.