Is My The Nigger of the 'Narcissus' a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First English edition: Heinemann, London, title page dated 1898 though actually published in early December 1897
• 259 pp. plus [4] pp. advertisements and a 16-page Heinemann 'Autumn Announcements' catalogue dated 1897, which is the earliest state of the advertisement catalogue
• Bound in dark slate/grey cloth stamped in gilt, with a gilt life-preserver (lifebuoy) device enclosing the title on the upper cover and the publisher's blind stamp on the rear board (Cagle A3
• Supino A3.7.0, binding state A)
• The first carries no impression statement; later Heinemann impressions add a 'New Impression 1898' line to the copyright page, which is the reliable reprint tell
• One widely repeated sub-point should be treated as unsettled rather than diagnostic: copies vary between a Heinemann imprint at the spine foot in uniform 3mm capitals and one with a larger, non-uniform initial 'H', and dealers directly contradict each other on which is earlier — Sumner & Stillman states no definite priority has been established

How William Heinemann marked a first edition

• 1890-1921: year of publication printed on the TITLE PAGE of first editions; on later printings the title-page date was removed and a notice added to the copyright page (a title-page year is the first-printing tell for th…
• First printing = statement present AND no list of subsequent impressions

Full William Heinemann first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
3. Verify this is the American true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
5. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

The census claim needs correction on precedence. The American edition PRECEDES the English by a matter of days: Dodd, Mead and Company, New York, published it in late November 1897 under the substituted title 'The Children of the Sea: A Tale of the Forecastle', ahead of Heinemann's London publication in early December 1897. Both are collected and both should be named — the Dodd, Mead is the first edition by date, while the Heinemann carries Conrad's intended title and is the first English edition. The Dodd, Mead has its own trap: roughly 1,000 copies were printed in late 1897 and, because publication straddled the season, the printers produced BOTH 1897 and 1898 title pages. Copies with the 1897 title page are the first issue (Cagle A3b(1)); the 1898-dated copies were distributed in spring 1898 and listed in Publishers Weekly on 12 March (Cagle A3b(2), second issue). It is bound in original pictorial light blue-grey mottled cloth.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

For the Dodd, Mead: all copies without a date on the front of the title leaf are merely reprints — this is the decisive reprint tell. For the Heinemann: later impressions state 'New Impression 1898' on the copyright page. Conrad's later collected editions, and the separately issued 1914 'Preface' printing, are 'first thus' and not first editions of the novel.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Nigger of the 'Narcissus' a first edition?

A first edition of The Nigger of the 'Narcissus' by Joseph Conrad (William Heinemann) is identified by: First English edition: Heinemann, London, title page dated 1898 though actually published in early December 1897; 259 pp.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. The census claim needs correction on precedence.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

For the Dodd, Mead: all copies without a date on the front of the title leaf are merely reprints — this is the decisive reprint tell. For the Heinemann: later impressions state 'New Impression 1898' on the copyright page. Conrad's later collected editions, and the separately issued 1914 'Preface' printing, are 'first thus' and not first editions of the novel.

I have a first edition of The Nigger of the 'Narcissus' — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.