# Is "The Seven Lamps of Architecture" by John Ruskin a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Seven Lamps of Architecture by John Ruskin (Smith, Elder, and Co., 1849) is identified by: First edition, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., May 1849, imperial 8vo, collating viii, [1, errata slip], [4], 205, [1], [16pp of advertisements including an advertisement slip for The Stones of Venice dated 1849].

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., May 1849, imperial 8vo, collating viii, [1, errata slip], [4], 205, [1], [16pp of advertisements including an advertisement slip for The Stones of Venice dated 1849]. Illustrated with fourteen plates etched by Ruskin himself (two of them bitten in Dijon during his honeymoon), plus a hand-colored plan of Exeter Cathedral, all with tissue guards, and a tipped-in errata slip -- this is the only issue to carry Ruskin's own etched plates rather than the re-engraved substitutes used in later editions
- Bound in the publisher's distinctively embossed brown cloth, described by bibliographer Thomas J. Wise as "deep claret colour." Reference: Wise 4
- Publisher imprint reads Smith, Elder, and Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | John Ruskin |
| Publisher | Smith, Elder, and Co. |
| Year | 1849 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., May 1849, imperial 8vo, collating viii, [1, errata slip], [4], 205, [1], [16pp of… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., May 1849, imperial 8vo, collating viii, [1, errata slip], [4], 205, [1], [16pp of advertisements including an advertisement slip for The Stones of Venice dated 1849]. Illustrated with fourteen plates etched by Ruskin himself (two of them bitten in Dijon during his honeymoon), plus a hand-colored plan of Exeter Cathedral, all with tissue guards, and a tipped-in errata slip -- this is the only issue to carry Ruskin's own etched plates rather than the re-engraved substitutes used in later editions. Bound in the publisher's distinctively embossed brown cloth, described by bibliographer Thomas J. Wise as "deep claret colour." Reference: Wise 4.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later editions substitute re-engraved plates for Ruskin's own etchings; only the 1849 first edition carries his original etched plates.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Seven Lamps of Architecture* by John Ruskin a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-seven-lamps-of-architecture
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.