# Is "The Way of All Flesh" by Samuel Butler a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler (Grant Richards, 1903) is identified by: London: Grant Richards, 1903 — first edition, published posthumously a year after Butler's death and arranged, as the author had asked, by his literary executor R.A. Grant Richards, London, 1903 is the true first, confirming the census claim; there is no competing simultaneous edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- London: Grant Richards, 1903 — first edition, published posthumously a year after Butler's death and arranged, as the author had asked, by his literary executor R.A. Streatfeild
- Octavo, 424pp plus 12pp of publisher's advertisements at the rear
- Bound in original red cloth, titled in gilt on the front board and the spine, top edge gilt
- The first-issue requirements the ABAA trade states are that the half-title is present and the 12-page terminal publisher's advertisements are present — both are routinely absent from rebound or cropped copies, which is the usual reason a copy fails
- No printing statement or number line is involved: the 1903 Grant Richards title page plus the intact half-title and rear ads are the identification
- Publisher imprint reads Grant Richards
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Samuel Butler |
| Publisher | Grant Richards |
| Year | 1903 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | London: Grant Richards, 1903 — first edition, published posthumously a year after Butler's death and arranged, as the author had asked, by… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
London: Grant Richards, 1903 — first edition, published posthumously a year after Butler's death and arranged, as the author had asked, by his literary executor R.A. Streatfeild. Octavo, 424pp plus 12pp of publisher's advertisements at the rear. Bound in original red cloth, titled in gilt on the front board and the spine, top edge gilt. The first-issue requirements the ABAA trade states are that the half-title is present and the 12-page terminal publisher's advertisements are present — both are routinely absent from rebound or cropped copies, which is the usual reason a copy fails. No printing statement or number line is involved: the 1903 Grant Richards title page plus the intact half-title and rear ads are the identification.

## Is this the true first?
Grant Richards, London, 1903 is the true first, confirming the census claim; there is no competing simultaneous edition. E.P. Dutton, New York, issued the first American edition in 1910 — the census year is right — but note that several dealers misdescribe Dutton's 1916 printing as the first American, so check the date on the title page. The more important 'first thus' point is textual rather than national: the 1903 text is Streatfeild's, and he made substantial changes to Butler's manuscript. Butler's unaltered manuscript text was not published until 1964, as 'Ernest Pontifex, or The Way of All Flesh', edited by Daniel F. Howard (Houghton Mifflin, Boston) — a first appearance of the true text, not a first edition of the book.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Grant Richards printings and the many reprints separate readily by imprint and date: E.P. Dutton (New York, 1916 and after), the Heritage Press edition of 1936 with a Theodore Dreiser introduction, Doubleday Doran 1944, and mid-century paperback giants are all reprints or 'first thus'. No book-club-specific tells for the 1903 Grant Richards were documented in the sources consulted.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Way of All Flesh* by Samuel Butler a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-way-of-all-flesh
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.