# Is "The Mill on the Floss" by George Eliot a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot (William Blackwood and Sons, 1860) is identified by: Three volumes, title pages dated 1860 (published 4 April 1860), issued in publisher's cinnamon/orange-brown cloth lettered and decorated in gilt. The Blackwood three-volume edition of 1860 is the true first; it precedes the Harper American edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Three volumes, title pages dated 1860 (published 4 April 1860), issued in publisher's cinnamon/orange-brown cloth lettered and decorated in gilt
- Earliest-state copies lack the advertisement leaf inserted in Volume I and carry rear advertisements in Volume III that cite Adam Bede in its seventh edition; copies with the inserted ad leaf and the eighth-edition Adam Bede advertisement are a slightly later state of the same first edition
- Publisher imprint reads William Blackwood and Sons
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | George Eliot |
| Publisher | William Blackwood and Sons |
| Year | 1860 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Three volumes, title pages dated 1860 (published 4 April 1860), issued in publisher's cinnamon/orange-brown cloth lettered and decorated in… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Three volumes, title pages dated 1860 (published 4 April 1860), issued in publisher's cinnamon/orange-brown cloth lettered and decorated in gilt. Earliest-state copies lack the advertisement leaf inserted in Volume I and carry rear advertisements in Volume III that cite Adam Bede in its seventh edition; copies with the inserted ad leaf and the eighth-edition Adam Bede advertisement are a slightly later state of the same first edition.

## Is this the true first?
The Blackwood three-volume edition of 1860 is the true first; it precedes the Harper American edition.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later one-volume Blackwood reprints are not the first edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Mill on the Floss* by George Eliot a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-mill-on-the-floss
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.