# Is "The Moonstone" by Wilkie Collins a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (Tinsley Brothers, 1868) is identified by: Three volumes, Tinsley Brothers, London, 1868 (following serialization in Dickens's All the Year Round). The UK Tinsley Brothers 1868 three-volume edition is the true first, often cited as the first detective novel in English.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Three volumes, Tinsley Brothers, London, 1868 (following serialization in Dickens's All the Year Round)
- Verified first-issue points: in Volume I, pages 10 and 11 are transposed
- Volume II has the misprint 'treachesrouly' for 'treacherously' at page 129; and Volume III shows a broken bracket at the tail of the title-page
- Half-titles present in each volume
- Original Tinsley cloth
- Publisher imprint reads Tinsley Brothers
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Wilkie Collins |
| Publisher | Tinsley Brothers |
| Year | 1868 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Three volumes, Tinsley Brothers, London, 1868 (following serialization in Dickens's All the Year Round) |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Three volumes, Tinsley Brothers, London, 1868 (following serialization in Dickens's All the Year Round). Verified first-issue points: in Volume I, pages 10 and 11 are transposed; Volume II has the misprint 'treachesrouly' for 'treacherously' at page 129; and Volume III shows a broken bracket at the tail of the title-page. Half-titles present in each volume. Original Tinsley cloth.

## Is this the true first?
The UK Tinsley Brothers 1868 three-volume edition is the true first, often cited as the first detective novel in English. The Harper US 1868 edition is secondary. The textual states (transposed pages in Vol. I, the 'treachesrouly' misprint in Vol. II at p.129, and the broken bracket on the Vol. III title) are the recognized points.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Corrected and one-volume reprints are later.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Moonstone* by Wilkie Collins a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-moonstone
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.