# Is "The Voyage of the Beagle (Journal of Researches)" by Charles Darwin a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Voyage of the Beagle (Journal of Researches) by Charles Darwin (Henry Colburn, 1839) is identified by: Darwin's narrative first appeared in May 1839 as volume III ('Journal and Remarks') of Captain FitzRoy's Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of H.M.S. The text first appeared, chronologically, as part of the 1839 Narrative in London before any American printing; the substantially rewritten 'second edition,' retitled Journal of Researches into the Natural History and Geology...

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Darwin's narrative first appeared in May 1839 as volume III ('Journal and Remarks') of Captain FitzRoy's Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of H.M.S. Adventure and Beagle, issued in three volumes plus an appendix to volume II. Owing to its outsized popularity, Colburn reissued it separately that August using the same printed text sheets, with the preliminary leaves cancelled and reset and a new title page reading Journal of Researches into the Geology and Natural History of the various countries visited by H.M.S. Beagle...; this August 1839 separate issue is what is collected as Darwin's first book
- First-issue points include the half-title, two folding engraved maps signed J. Dower and J. & C. Walker (bound in at pages xiv and 538), and 16 pages of Colburn's advertisements dated August 1839 bound in at the rear
- The original binding is publisher's brownish-purple cloth stamped in blind, spine lettered in gilt, with plain endpapers
- Publisher imprint reads Henry Colburn
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Charles Darwin |
| Publisher | Henry Colburn |
| Year | 1839 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Darwin's narrative first appeared in May 1839 as volume III ('Journal and Remarks') of Captain FitzRoy's Narrative of the Surveying Voyages… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Darwin's narrative first appeared in May 1839 as volume III ('Journal and Remarks') of Captain FitzRoy's Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of H.M.S. Adventure and Beagle, issued in three volumes plus an appendix to volume II. Owing to its outsized popularity, Colburn reissued it separately that August using the same printed text sheets, with the preliminary leaves cancelled and reset and a new title page reading Journal of Researches into the Geology and Natural History of the various countries visited by H.M.S. Beagle...; this August 1839 separate issue is what is collected as Darwin's first book. First-issue points include the half-title, two folding engraved maps signed J. Dower and J. & C. Walker (bound in at pages xiv and 538), and 16 pages of Colburn's advertisements dated August 1839 bound in at the rear. The original binding is publisher's brownish-purple cloth stamped in blind, spine lettered in gilt, with plain endpapers.

## Is this the true first?
The text first appeared, chronologically, as part of the 1839 Narrative in London before any American printing; the substantially rewritten 'second edition,' retitled Journal of Researches into the Natural History and Geology... and issued by John Murray in 1845 in the Colonial and Home Library, is a later, different edition, not the first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Voyage of the Beagle (Journal of Researches)* by Charles Darwin a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-voyage-of-the-beagle-journal-of-researches
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.