# Is "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman" by Laurence Sterne a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne ([Ann Ward], York, 1760) 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. The census direction is CORRECT but the year needs correcting.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- 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
- Publisher imprint reads [Ann Ward], York

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Laurence Sterne |
| Publisher | [Ann Ward], York |
| Year | 1760 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | 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… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## 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. V, VII or IX is not a complete first. Volume VII first state is identified by the title-page typography and the errata printed on the verso of the title. Subsequent first-edition volumes carry London imprints: III-IV (R. and J. Dodsley, 1761) and V-IX (T. Becket and P. A. Dehondt, 1762-1767). No dust jackets exist; identification is by imprint, date, frontispiece absence and Sterne's signatures.

## 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.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman* by Laurence Sterne a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-life-and-opinions-of-tristram-shandy-gentleman
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.