Is My The Spy: A Tale of the Neutral Ground a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition, two volumes, published in New York by Wiley & Halsted on December 22, 1821; the title page credits the book only to "the author of Precaution," not to Cooper by name, since Cooper had not yet begun publishing under his own name
• Volume one collates to xii + 251 pages and volume two to 286 pages
• The defining point of issue, recorded in Spiller & Blackburn's descriptive bibliography of Cooper, is on volume one's title page: in the epigraph "Breathes there a man with soul so dead," the second "d" in "dead" is out of alignment
• Because the first printing sold out quickly, Wiley reprinted from the same plates for "second" and "third" editions in 1822 (each with a new preface) and a "fourth edition" in 1824
• First-issue sets are distinguished from these later Wiley printings by the December 1821 title-page date and the misaligned "dead"; most surviving copies have been rebound in period leather rather than retaining the original boards and paper spine labels

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

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. 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.
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 New York edition (Wiley & Halsted, December 22, 1821) is the true first, preceding the first English edition (G. and W. B. Whittaker, London, February 28, 1822) by more than two months; no earlier printing in any other country is recorded.P-034540

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Wiley's own 1822 and 1824 reprints used the same plates but added new prefaces, so they can be mistaken for the true first; Putnam's 1849 edition carries Cooper's own textual revisions, and later Townsend and other illustrated "household" editions from the 1850s onward add engravings and use imprints unrelated to Wiley & Halsted. None reproduce the original boards-and-label binding.P-034541

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Spy: A Tale of the Neutral Ground a first edition?

A first edition of The Spy: A Tale of the Neutral Ground by James Fenimore Cooper (Wiley & Halsted) is identified by: First edition, two volumes, published in New York by Wiley & Halsted on December 22, 1821; the title page credits the book only to "the author of Precaution," not to Cooper by name, since Cooper had not yet begun publishing under his own name.

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 New York edition (Wiley & Halsted, December 22, 1821) is the true first, preceding the first English edition (G.

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

Wiley's own 1822 and 1824 reprints used the same plates but added new prefaces, so they can be mistaken for the true first; Putnam's 1849 edition carries Cooper's own textual revisions, and later Townsend and other illustrated "household" editions from the 1850s onward add engravings and use imprints unrelated to Wiley & Halsted. None reproduce the original boards-and-label binding.

I have a first edition of The Spy: A Tale of the Neutral Ground — 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.