# Is "The Principles of Psychology" by William James a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Principles of Psychology by William James (Henry Holt and Company, 1890) is identified by: First edition, first printing, two volumes, issued as part of 'The American Science Series.' First-issue points include 'Psy-chology' hyphenated across the line on the advertisement leaf facing each volume's title page, together with uncorrected errors reading 'the seat of intellectual power' on page 10 of volume 1 and 'object of some absent object of sensation' on page 101 of volume 2.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first printing, two volumes, issued as part of 'The American Science Series.' First-issue points include 'Psy-chology' hyphenated across the line on the advertisement leaf facing each volume's title page, together with uncorrected errors reading 'the seat of intellectual power' on page 10 of volume 1 and 'object of some absent object of sensation' on page 101 of volume 2
- Volume II closes with 8 pages of American Science Series advertisements
- Bound in publisher's cloth, spines lettered in gilt
- Publisher imprint reads Henry Holt and Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | William James |
| Publisher | Henry Holt and Company |
| Year | 1890 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first printing, two volumes, issued as part of 'The American Science Series.' First-issue points include 'Psy-chology'… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, first printing, two volumes, issued as part of 'The American Science Series.' First-issue points include 'Psy-chology' hyphenated across the line on the advertisement leaf facing each volume's title page, together with uncorrected errors reading 'the seat of intellectual power' on page 10 of volume 1 and 'object of some absent object of sensation' on page 101 of volume 2. Volume II closes with 8 pages of American Science Series advertisements. Bound in publisher's cloth, spines lettered in gilt.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Holt's later printings correct the page-10 and page-101 misreadings and the 'Psychology' hyphenation error even though still dated 1890; the heavily abridged one-volume Psychology: Briefer Course (1892) is an entirely different, later book, not an edition of the Principles.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Principles of Psychology* by William James a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-principles-of-psychology
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.