Is My The Professor. A Tale a First Edition?

The points of issue

• London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1857; two volumes, 8vo, published under the pseudonym Currer Bell
• Half-titles are present in both volumes and are called for
• Publisher's advertisements for Brontë's works appear at the end of both volumes, and a publisher's catalogue at the end of volume 2 is dated June 1857 — the June 1857 dating is the recorded first state of the ads
• In the original binding: publisher's blind-stamped purple cloth, both boards stamped in blind, spines lettered in gilt; spines are commonly and uniformly faded, which is expected rather than disqualifying
• The original binder's ticket is found at the lower edge of the rear pastedown of volume I, as issued
• The novel was published posthumously — Brontë died in 1855 — and was seen through the press by her widower, Arthur Bell Nicholls, who reviewed and edited the text

How Smith, Elder & Co., London marked a first edition

• Original publisher's cloth binding (blind- and gilt-stamped), correct half-titles present, and an uncut or unopened text block support a first-issue state.

Full Smith, Elder & Co., London 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 is confirmed: the Smith, Elder two-volume London edition of 1857 is the true first, and it takes precedence over the first American edition (Harper & Brothers, New York, 1857), which followed the London issue in the same year and which was also issued in a paperbound form. Both are collected; the London two-decker is the true first. The book's other well-known distinction is chronological rather than bibliographical: The Professor was the first of Charlotte Brontë's novels to be written (and was rejected by Smith, Elder in 1846) but the last to be published.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue exists for an 1857 three-decker-era title. The tells to watch are the first American Harper & Brothers 1857 New York edition, later Smith, Elder one-volume reprints, and copies rebound out of the original purple cloth — rebinding destroys the binder's ticket and the blind-stamping evidence, leaving the half-titles and the June 1857-dated catalogue at the end of volume 2 as the surviving checks. Copies lacking the half-titles or with a later-dated or absent catalogue are not in the first state.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Professor. A Tale a first edition?

A first edition of The Professor. A Tale by Charlotte Brontë (as 'Currer Bell') (Smith, Elder & Co., London) is identified by: London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1857; two volumes, 8vo, published under the pseudonym Currer Bell.

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 is confirmed: the Smith, Elder two-volume London edition of 1857 is the true first, and it takes precedence over the first American edition (Harper & Brothers, New York, 1857), which followed the London issue in the same year and which was also issued in a paperbound form.

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

No book-club issue exists for an 1857 three-decker-era title. The tells to watch are the first American Harper & Brothers 1857 New York edition, later Smith, Elder one-volume reprints, and copies rebound out of the original purple cloth — rebinding destroys the binder's ticket and the blind-stamping evidence, leaving the half-titles and the June 1857-dated catalogue at the end of volume 2 as the surviving checks. Copies lacking the half-titles or with a later-dated or absent catalogue are not in

I have a first edition of The Professor. A Tale — 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.