Is My The Life of Samuel Johnson a First Edition?

The points of issue

• London: printed by Henry Baldwin, for Charles Dilly, in the Poultry, 1791
• TWO VOLUMES, QUARTO (about 10 the printed price x 8 7/16 inches)
• The census's headline point is CONFIRMED: the first issue reads "gve" for "give" at Volume I, page 135, line 10
• The mechanism is documented — the proof was correct, but when Boswell directed the removal of an exclamation point in the first line, the "i" dropped out and the compositor filled the line by spacing "gve us"; the error was caught and corrected in the press after a considerable part of the edition had been printed
• Consequence to state honestly: "gve" is the EARLIER state, but because it was a stop-press correction, both states occur within the first edition — a corrected copy is still a first edition, not a later one
• Further points: errata uncorrected; the cancels at Volume I pp

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. 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. Verify this is the American true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. 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.
6. 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 claim is CORRECT: the London 1791 two-volume quarto (Baldwin for Dilly) is the true first and the collected form, and the first American edition is Boston, 1807 (W. Andrews and L. Blake), in three octavo volumes — but the census undersells why the American is not a rival. The 1807 Boston edition was set from the FIFTH London edition, as revised and edited by Edmund Malone; it is a reprint of a later revised text, not an independent first, and it is the first edition of the work to carry an index. Since Boswell wrote in English and published in London, no UK/US or original-language precedence contest exists — London 1791 is first, full stop. One "first thus" trap worth naming: The Principal Corrections and Additions to the First Edition of Mr. Boswell's Life of Dr. Johnson (Henry Baldwin for Charles Dilly, 1793) is a separate and exceptionally rare companion pamphlet, frequently bound in with the 1791 quartos; its presence is desirable but it is NOT part of the first edition, and a set is not "more first" for having it.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition exists for a 1791 quarto. Documented reprint tells: (1) the second (1793) and later London editions, and above all Edmund Malone's revised editions from the third onward — these are octavo or smaller, in three or more volumes, and carry Malone's name; (2) the Boston 1807 first American, three octavo volumes, set from the fifth London edition and containing an index (the 1791 quarto has none); (3) the great 19th-century editorial recensions — Croker's and George Birkbeck Hill's — sold in multi-volume sets under Boswell's name but heavily annotated by later editors; (4) Everyman's Library, Oxford Standard Authors, Modern Library and Heritage Press/Limited Editions Club reprints, identifiable by publisher's cloth, modern paper and a 20th-century copyright notice. If the book is not a two-volume QUARTO with the 1791 Baldwin/Dilly imprint, it is not the first edition — and volume count alone (two vs. three or more) settles most donor triage on sight.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Life of Samuel Johnson a first edition?

A first edition of The Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell (Charles Dilly) is identified by: London: printed by Henry Baldwin, for Charles Dilly, in the Poultry, 1791; TWO VOLUMES, QUARTO (about 10 the printed price x 8 7/16 inches).

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 claim is CORRECT: the London 1791 two-volume quarto (Baldwin for Dilly) is the true first and the collected form, and the first American edition is Boston, 1807 (W.

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

No book-club edition exists for a 1791 quarto. Documented reprint tells: (1) the second (1793) and later London editions, and above all Edmund Malone's revised editions from the third onward — these are octavo or smaller, in three or more volumes, and carry Malone's name; (2) the Boston 1807 first American, three octavo volumes, set from the fifth London edition and containing an index (the 1791 quarto has none); (3) the great 19th-century editorial recensions — Croker's and George Birkbeck Hill

I have a first edition of The Life of Samuel Johnson — 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.