# Is "The Life of Charlotte Brontë" by Elizabeth Gaskell a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Life of Charlotte Brontë by Elizabeth Gaskell (Smith, Elder & Co., 1857) is identified by: True first: London, Smith, Elder & Co., 1857, in TWO volumes, octavo, bound in the publisher's brown/chocolate cloth with covers decorated in blind and spine lettered in gilt; each volume has an engraved, tissue-guarded frontispiece and a facsimile-manuscript plate, pagination viii, 352 (vol. The London Smith, Elder two-volume edition (1857) is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first: London, Smith, Elder & Co., 1857, in TWO volumes, octavo, bound in the publisher's brown/chocolate cloth with covers decorated in blind and spine lettered in gilt; each volume has an engraved, tissue-guarded frontispiece and a facsimile-manuscript plate, pagination viii, 352 (vol
- I) and viii, 327 plus terminal ads (vol
- First-issue tells: the title pages carry NO edition statement (later printings are lettered 'Second Edition' / 'Third Edition'), and copies carry a 16-page publisher's catalogue dated March 1857 bound in at the end of vol
- II. The unrevised first is the setting that still contains the Cowan Bridge / Rev
- Carus Wilson material and the account of Mrs (Lydia) Robinson and Branwell Brontë that provoked the libel threats
- Binding and format corroborated by two independent dealer catalogues (Jonkers Rare Books and a second antiquarian description) plus the documented publishing history
- Publisher imprint reads Smith, Elder & Co.

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Elizabeth Gaskell |
| Publisher | Smith, Elder & Co. |
| Year | 1857 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | True first: London, Smith, Elder & Co., 1857, in TWO volumes, octavo, bound in the publisher's brown/chocolate cloth with covers decorated… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
True first: London, Smith, Elder & Co., 1857, in TWO volumes, octavo, bound in the publisher's brown/chocolate cloth with covers decorated in blind and spine lettered in gilt; each volume has an engraved, tissue-guarded frontispiece and a facsimile-manuscript plate, pagination viii, 352 (vol. I) and viii, 327 plus terminal ads (vol. II). First-issue tells: the title pages carry NO edition statement (later printings are lettered 'Second Edition' / 'Third Edition'), and copies carry a 16-page publisher's catalogue dated March 1857 bound in at the end of vol. II. The unrevised first is the setting that still contains the Cowan Bridge / Rev. Carus Wilson material and the account of Mrs (Lydia) Robinson and Branwell Brontë that provoked the libel threats. Binding and format corroborated by two independent dealer catalogues (Jonkers Rare Books and a second antiquarian description) plus the documented publishing history.

## Is this the true first?
The London Smith, Elder two-volume edition (1857) is the true first. A first American edition appeared the same year from D. Appleton & Co., New York (1857); it follows the London printing and is collected only as the first American, not the true first. Both the first and the second editions were recalled in May 1857 under threat of libel, after which the text was substantially revised for the third edition (the so-called 'mutilated edition'), so the earlier unrevised London setting is the one collectors seek.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No genuine book-club issue for the 1857 first. Beware later Smith, Elder printings that state 'Second Edition' / 'Third Edition' on the title page, the revised (cleansed) third edition, and the many later one-volume revised reprints — all 'first thus,' not the first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Life of Charlotte Brontë* by Elizabeth Gaskell a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-life-of-charlotte-bront
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.