# Is "The Song of Hiawatha" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Ticknor and Fields, 1855) is identified by: First edition, first issue, collates iv, 316pp plus [2] blank leaves and 11, [1]pp of publisher's advertisements at the rear.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first issue, collates iv, 316pp plus [2] blank leaves and 11, [1]pp of publisher's advertisements at the rear
- BAL 12112 records a set of first-issue textual readings on specific pages (including pages 27, 32, 39, 96, 268, and 278) that were altered in the stereotype plates for later printings within the same year
- Bound in the publisher's original brown cloth, blind-stamped on the covers with gilt lettering on the spine; the advertisement leaves at the rear should be present and match the earliest state for a true first issue
- Publisher imprint reads Ticknor and Fields
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Henry Wadsworth Longfellow |
| Publisher | Ticknor and Fields |
| Year | 1855 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | First edition, first issue, collates iv, 316pp plus [2] blank leaves and 11, [1]pp of publisher's advertisements at the rear |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First edition, first issue, collates iv, 316pp plus [2] blank leaves and 11, [1]pp of publisher's advertisements at the rear. BAL 12112 records a set of first-issue textual readings on specific pages (including pages 27, 32, 39, 96, 268, and 278) that were altered in the stereotype plates for later printings within the same year. Bound in the publisher's original brown cloth, blind-stamped on the covers with gilt lettering on the spine; the advertisement leaves at the rear should be present and match the earliest state for a true first issue.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Numerous illustrated gift-book reprints of Hiawatha appeared from the 1890s onward with added colour plates or photogravures, and later Ticknor & Fields/Houghton Mifflin printings differ from the true first in advertisement dating and in the corrected textual points; these are not the 1855 first issue.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Song of Hiawatha* by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-song-of-hiawatha
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.