# Is "The Mystery of a Hansom Cab" by Fergus Hume a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab by Fergus Hume (Kemp & Boyce, 1886) is identified by: The true first edition is Hume's self-published Melbourne printing, with the title-page imprint reading 'Melbourne, Kemp and Boyce, Printers,' issued in 1886 in an edition of 5,000 copies that Hume reported sold out within three weeks. The 1886 Melbourne (Kemp & Boyce) wrappered edition is the true first, preceding the 1887 London first English edition (Hansom Cab Publishing Company) by about a year.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first edition is Hume's self-published Melbourne printing, with the title-page imprint reading 'Melbourne, Kemp and Boyce, Printers,' issued in 1886 in an edition of 5,000 copies that Hume reported sold out within three weeks
- It was issued not in cloth but in original light gray-brown pictorial paper wrappers, collating 230 pages plus two pages of publisher's advertisements at the rear
- Hume sold the English-language rights outright for a fixed sum to the speculator Frederick Trischler before the book's runaway colonial success became apparent
- Trischler took the novel to London and issued the first English edition there in 1887 under his own Hansom Cab Publishing Company imprint, which sold hundreds of thousands of copies before the rights later passed to Jarrold & Sons for subsequent reissues
- Publisher imprint reads Kemp & Boyce
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Fergus Hume |
| Publisher | Kemp & Boyce |
| Year | 1886 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first edition is Hume's self-published Melbourne printing, with the title-page imprint reading 'Melbourne, Kemp and Boyce… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The true first edition is Hume's self-published Melbourne printing, with the title-page imprint reading 'Melbourne, Kemp and Boyce, Printers,' issued in 1886 in an edition of 5,000 copies that Hume reported sold out within three weeks. It was issued not in cloth but in original light gray-brown pictorial paper wrappers, collating 230 pages plus two pages of publisher's advertisements at the rear. Hume sold the English-language rights outright for a fixed sum to the speculator Frederick Trischler before the book's runaway colonial success became apparent. Trischler took the novel to London and issued the first English edition there in 1887 under his own Hansom Cab Publishing Company imprint, which sold hundreds of thousands of copies before the rights later passed to Jarrold & Sons for subsequent reissues.

## Is this the true first?
The 1886 Melbourne (Kemp & Boyce) wrappered edition is the true first, preceding the 1887 London first English edition (Hansom Cab Publishing Company) by about a year.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The 1887 London first English edition and the later Jarrold & Sons reissues drop the Kemp & Boyce Melbourne imprint and original wrappers entirely, appearing instead in publisher's cloth.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Mystery of a Hansom Cab* by Fergus Hume a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-mystery-of-a-hansom-cab
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.