Is My The Vicar of Wakefield a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Two volumes, duodecimo, published anonymously; the imprint reads 'Salisbury: Printed By B. Collins, for F. Newbery, in Pater-Noster-Row, 1766' — Collins printed at Salisbury for Newbery's London shop, and that Salisbury line is the primary test
• No half-titles were issued, so their absence is correct and not a defect; a publisher's terminal blank (K12) is called for in vol
• I and is frequently wanting
• Four variants of the first edition are recorded (Iolo A. Williams
• Temple Scott
• Rothschild), distinguished by three points: the catchword on vol

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. Verify this is the UK 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?

The Salisbury imprint is the true first and precedes the London-imprint editions of the same year by roughly two months — a provincial printing preceding all London editions, which is the reverse of the usual eighteenth-century pattern and the single fact most often got wrong. A 1766 title-page reading London rather than Salisbury is the second edition or later, never the first. Dublin printings also appeared in 1766 and are not the first. Because the work was written and first published in English in Britain, no UK/US or original-language precedence question arises; the first American editions are much later reprints and are not collected as firsts. Reference: Rothschild 1028.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club editions exist for a 1766 title; the traps are the same-year London and Dublin reprints and the later 'first thus' illustrated editions. The second and third editions appeared in 1766 with London imprints and edition statements on the title-page. The famous illustrated Vicars — Hugh Thomson's of 1890 and Arthur Rackham's of 1929 — are 'first thus' at best. Most dangerous for the unwary is the 1885 facsimile reproduction of the first edition, introduced by Austin Dobson, which reprints the 1766 title-page wording and is regularly mistaken for the original; the first edition was issued plain and unillustrated, so any decorated or illustrated Vicar of Wakefield is not it.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Vicar of Wakefield a first edition?

A first edition of The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith (Printed by B. Collins for F. Newbery, Salisbury) is identified by: Two volumes, duodecimo, published anonymously; the imprint reads 'Salisbury: Printed By B.

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 Salisbury imprint is the true first and precedes the London-imprint editions of the same year by roughly two months — a provincial printing preceding all London editions, which is the reverse of the usual eighteenth-century pattern and the single fact most often got wrong.

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

No book-club editions exist for a 1766 title; the traps are the same-year London and Dublin reprints and the later 'first thus' illustrated editions. The second and third editions appeared in 1766 with London imprints and edition statements on the title-page. The famous illustrated Vicars — Hugh Thomson's of 1890 and Arthur Rackham's of 1929 — are 'first thus' at best. Most dangerous for the unwary is the 1885 facsimile reproduction of the first edition, introduced by Austin Dobson, which reprin

I have a first edition of The Vicar of Wakefield — 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.