Is My The Secret Agent a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First English edition, Methuen & Co., London, September 1907, in a first printing of 2,500 copies
• The title page is dated 1907 with no printing statement or number line
• Collation is [6], 442, [2] pp., followed by 40 pages of inserted publisher's advertisements at the rear dated September 1907 — the ad date and the 40-page count are the standard first-impression check
• The textual point of issue is on the last line of p
• 117, where the text reads "be be" in place of "to be." Binding is red cloth, the spine lettered and decorated in gilt; spine fading is near-universal in surviving copies, so an unfaded spine is exceptional rather than a point

How Methuen & Co. marked a first edition

• Since 1905: state "First published in [Year]" or "First published in Great Britain [Year]" on the copyright page of firsts, with later printings noted

Full Methuen & Co. first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
4. Verify this is the American true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. 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.
6. 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?

Methuen, London, September 1907 is the accepted true first and the census claim stands, but the margin is narrower than the claim implies: the first American edition — Harper & Brothers, New York (Cagle A12b, binding a; Smith 13; Keating 75; Conolly 100 15b), 4,000 copies in blue pictorial cloth — also appeared in September 1907, and the sources consulted do not fix an exact day for either. Methuen's priority rests on the conventional attribution and on Cagle's finding that Harper set its text from uncorrected proofs supplied by Methuen, recording more than one hundred variants between the two of the kind easily corrected in proof. Both editions are collected; treat the Methuen as the first and the Harper as the first American.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition is documented for 1907. The relevant issue caveat is colonial: of the 2,500 copies, 500 were allotted to Canada and 500 to colonial markets, and Methuen later redirected unsold colonial copies to the home market with no visible evidence of cancellation — colonial and domestic copies are therefore not reliably distinguishable. Copies lacking the 40-page September 1907 advertisement section, or with a corrected p. 117, are later; the Methuen cheap reprints and later collected editions are "first thus" only.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Secret Agent a first edition?

A first edition of The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad (Methuen & Co.) is identified by: First English edition, Methuen & Co., London, September 1907, in a first printing of 2,500 copies.

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

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). Methuen, London, September 1907 is the accepted true first and the census claim stands, but the margin is narrower than the claim implies: the first American edition — Harper & Brothers, New York (Cagle A12b, binding a; Smith 13; Keating 75; Conolly 100 15b), 4,000 copies in blue pictorial cloth — also appeared in September 1907, and the sources consulted do not fix an exact day for either.

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

No book-club edition is documented for 1907. The relevant issue caveat is colonial: of the 2,500 copies, 500 were allotted to Canada and 500 to colonial markets, and Methuen later redirected unsold colonial copies to the home market with no visible evidence of cancellation — colonial and domestic copies are therefore not reliably distinguishable. Copies lacking the 40-page September 1907 advertisement section, or with a corrected p. 117, are later; the Methuen cheap reprints and later collected

I have a first edition of The Secret Agent — 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.