# Is "The Tower of London: A Historical Romance" by William Harrison Ainsworth a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Tower of London: A Historical Romance by William Harrison Ainsworth (Richard Bentley, 1840) is identified by: First edition, octavo, published by Richard Bentley in 1840 (Cohn 14), collating xvi + 439 pages plus an engraved frontispiece, 39 further inserted engraved plates, and 58 in-text wood engravings, all by George Cruikshank. Originally issued in 13 monthly parts (January-December 1840) in pictorial wrappers, with the complete bound octavo volume appearing alongside the final part in December 1840; the first-state plate points at pages 16, 28, and 45 apply whether a copy survives in parts or was bound up into a volume.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, octavo, published by Richard Bentley in 1840 (Cohn 14), collating xvi + 439 pages plus an engraved frontispiece, 39 further inserted engraved plates, and 58 in-text wood engravings, all by George Cruikshank
- The work was first issued in 13 monthly parts in illustrated wrappers (January-December 1840) before being gathered into the single-volume octavo; sets bound up from the parts, or assembled soon after, are most often found in half leather over marbled boards with a gilt-lettered spine, though publisher's cloth bindings are also recorded
- A first-issue point identifies early copies by three specific plates (at pages 16, 28, and 45) appearing in their first state per Cohn's Cruikshank bibliography; the same three plates appear in a recognizably later, second state in subsequent printings
- Publisher imprint reads Richard Bentley
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | William Harrison Ainsworth |
| Publisher | Richard Bentley |
| Year | 1840 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, octavo, published by Richard Bentley in 1840 (Cohn 14), collating xvi + 439 pages plus an engraved frontispiece, 39 further… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, octavo, published by Richard Bentley in 1840 (Cohn 14), collating xvi + 439 pages plus an engraved frontispiece, 39 further inserted engraved plates, and 58 in-text wood engravings, all by George Cruikshank. The work was first issued in 13 monthly parts in illustrated wrappers (January-December 1840) before being gathered into the single-volume octavo; sets bound up from the parts, or assembled soon after, are most often found in half leather over marbled boards with a gilt-lettered spine, though publisher's cloth bindings are also recorded. A first-issue point identifies early copies by three specific plates (at pages 16, 28, and 45) appearing in their first state per Cohn's Cruikshank bibliography; the same three plates appear in a recognizably later, second state in subsequent printings.

## Is this the true first?
Originally issued in 13 monthly parts (January-December 1840) in pictorial wrappers, with the complete bound octavo volume appearing alongside the final part in December 1840; the first-state plate points at pages 16, 28, and 45 apply whether a copy survives in parts or was bound up into a volume.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings carry the same three key plates (pp. 16, 28, 45) in their second state per Cohn; a copy with those plates already in the second state is a later printing rather than the earliest issue.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Tower of London: A Historical Romance* by William Harrison Ainsworth a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-tower-of-london-a-historical-romance
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.