# Is "The Mysterious Island" by Jules Verne a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne (Sampson Low, Marston, Low & Searle, 1875) is identified by: The first English edition was published by Sampson Low, Marston, Low & Searle, London, in September 1875, issued as three separately titled volumes - Dropped from the Clouds, The Abandoned, and The Secret of the Island - rather than as a single continuous novel. The Sampson Low three-volume London edition (September 1875) precedes Scribner's American edition (November 1875), which was printed from the same English plates.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The first English edition was published by Sampson Low, Marston, Low & Searle, London, in September 1875, issued as three separately titled volumes - Dropped from the Clouds, The Abandoned, and The Secret of the Island - rather than as a single continuous novel
- The translation was credited on the title pages to W. H. G. Kingston, though it is now established that the work was substantially done by his wife, Agnes Kinloch Kingston
- The complete English text runs to roughly 195,000 words across the three volumes
- Publisher imprint reads Sampson Low, Marston, Low & Searle
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Jules Verne |
| Publisher | Sampson Low, Marston, Low & Searle |
| Year | 1875 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The first English edition was published by Sampson Low, Marston, Low & Searle, London, in September 1875, issued as three separately titled… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The first English edition was published by Sampson Low, Marston, Low & Searle, London, in September 1875, issued as three separately titled volumes - Dropped from the Clouds, The Abandoned, and The Secret of the Island - rather than as a single continuous novel. The translation was credited on the title pages to W. H. G. Kingston, though it is now established that the work was substantially done by his wife, Agnes Kinloch Kingston. The complete English text runs to roughly 195,000 words across the three volumes.

## Is this the true first?
The Sampson Low three-volume London edition (September 1875) precedes Scribner's American edition (November 1875), which was printed from the same English plates.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Twentieth-century abridged and juvenile one-volume reprints compress the three-part structure into a single continuous narrative and drop the individual volume titles, so a genuine first edition must retain the three separately titled volumes.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Mysterious Island* by Jules Verne a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-mysterious-island
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.