# Is "The Malay Archipelago" by Alfred Russel Wallace a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Malay Archipelago by Alfred Russel Wallace (Macmillan and Co., 1869) is identified by: First edition, published in two volumes in spring 1869, octavo, with half-titles, 2 frontispieces, 9 maps (2 folding), 6 plates, and numerous text illustrations. Macmillan issued a reprint from reset type, with reduced line-spacing and marked as a second edition on the title page, later the same year (1869); the true first carries no edition statement and retains the December 1868 advertisement leaves in volume I.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, published in two volumes in spring 1869, octavo, with half-titles, 2 frontispieces, 9 maps (2 folding), 6 plates, and numerous text illustrations
- Volume I carries 2 plus 52 pages of publisher's advertisements dated December 1868 bound in at the rear, present only in the true first printing
- Original binding is gilt-decorated green cloth with a gilt vignette of an orangutan stamped on the front board of each volume and birds of paradise stamped near the spine ends, spines lettered in gilt
- Publisher imprint reads Macmillan and Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Alfred Russel Wallace |
| Publisher | Macmillan and Co. |
| Year | 1869 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, published in two volumes in spring 1869, octavo, with half-titles, 2 frontispieces, 9 maps (2 folding), 6 plates, and… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, published in two volumes in spring 1869, octavo, with half-titles, 2 frontispieces, 9 maps (2 folding), 6 plates, and numerous text illustrations. Volume I carries 2 plus 52 pages of publisher's advertisements dated December 1868 bound in at the rear, present only in the true first printing. Original binding is gilt-decorated green cloth with a gilt vignette of an orangutan stamped on the front board of each volume and birds of paradise stamped near the spine ends, spines lettered in gilt.

## Is this the true first?
Macmillan issued a reprint from reset type, with reduced line-spacing and marked as a second edition on the title page, later the same year (1869); the true first carries no edition statement and retains the December 1868 advertisement leaves in volume I.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Malay Archipelago* by Alfred Russel Wallace a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-malay-archipelago
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.