Is My The Pickwick Papers (The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• True first is the 20 (in 19) monthly parts in printed wrappers, April 1836 to November 1837
• Robert Seymour illustrated Part I (four plates) before his death by suicide after the first number
• R. W. Buss illustrated Part III on an interim basis (two plates) before being replaced
• Hablot K. Browne ('Phiz') then took over for the remainder, his early plates signed 'Nemo' (his pseudonym before 'Phiz') in Part IV. Sam Weller first appears in Part IV (chapter 10, July 1836), the instalment that made the serial a sensation
• A 'prime' set carries a recognized run of points including 1836-dated wrappers on the early parts, the Seymour wording on Parts I-II wrappers, the Buss wording on Part III, the Buss plates unre-etched in Part III, the 'Nemo'-signed plates in Part IV, and the correct address and advertisement inserts
• The 1837 one-volume first book edition has the Phiz plates and the Talfourd dedication

How Chapman & Hall marked a first edition

• No edition statement on early firsts: identify by title-page date, absence of later-printing wording, and (for serialized novels) by the original part-issue versus the bound volume.
• For Dickens part-issues (Pickwick, Nicholas Nickleby, Martin Chuzzlewit, Our Mutual Friend, Edwin Drood), correct plates/etchings, advertisement slips, and wrapper states are the diagnostic points; Pickwick is the classi…

Full Chapman & Hall 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. 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.
4. 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 original parts are the true first and are prized over the 1837 bound volume. Plate states across the Seymour/Buss/Phiz succession govern the points; mixed-plate and made-up sets are common.P-004509

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Countless later one-volume reprints exist; any single bound volume dated after 1837, or lacking the Phiz plates, is not the part-issue first.P-004510

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Pickwick Papers (The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club) a first edition?

A first edition of The Pickwick Papers (The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club) by Charles Dickens (Chapman & Hall) is identified by: True first is the 20 (in 19) monthly parts in printed wrappers, April 1836 to November 1837.

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 original parts are the true first and are prized over the 1837 bound volume.

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

Countless later one-volume reprints exist; any single bound volume dated after 1837, or lacking the Phiz plates, is not the part-issue first.

I have a first edition of The Pickwick Papers (The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club) — 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.