# Is "The Naturalist on the River Amazons" by Henry Walter Bates a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Naturalist on the River Amazons by Henry Walter Bates (John Murray, 1863) is identified by: The true first edition was issued in two octavo volumes, bound in original maroon publisher's cloth with gilt-stamped pictorial upper covers, gilt spines, and dark red endpapers.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first edition was issued in two octavo volumes, bound in original maroon publisher's cloth with gilt-stamped pictorial upper covers, gilt spines, and dark red endpapers
- Volume I collates [ii, frontispiece], [ix], 351 pages with four engraved plates, a folding map, and thirty-two pages of publisher's advertisements; volume II collates [ii, frontispiece], vi, 423 pages with three engraved plates and in-text illustrations by artists including Joseph Wolf and Josiah Wood Whymper
- Bates was urged to write the book by Charles Darwin, who also recommended him to John Murray as publisher
- Publisher imprint reads John Murray
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Henry Walter Bates |
| Publisher | John Murray |
| Year | 1863 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first edition was issued in two octavo volumes, bound in original maroon publisher's cloth with gilt-stamped pictorial upper… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The true first edition was issued in two octavo volumes, bound in original maroon publisher's cloth with gilt-stamped pictorial upper covers, gilt spines, and dark red endpapers. Volume I collates [ii, frontispiece], [ix], 351 pages with four engraved plates, a folding map, and thirty-two pages of publisher's advertisements; volume II collates [ii, frontispiece], vi, 423 pages with three engraved plates and in-text illustrations by artists including Joseph Wolf and Josiah Wood Whymper. Bates was urged to write the book by Charles Darwin, who also recommended him to John Murray as publisher.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Bates himself abridged the text to a single volume for a cheaper 'new edition' issued in 1864 and reprinted for decades afterward; the true first edition is the fuller two-volume 1863 set with the complete plate and advertisement complement described above.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Naturalist on the River Amazons* by Henry Walter Bates a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-naturalist-on-the-river-amazons
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.