# Is "The Woman in White" by Wilkie Collins a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins (Sampson Low, Son & Co., 1860) is identified by: Three volumes, Sampson Low, Son & Co., London, 1860 (following serialization in All the Year Round). The London Sampson Low 1860 three-decker is the true first; the Harper American edition of 1860 is secondary.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Three volumes, Sampson Low, Son & Co., London, 1860 (following serialization in All the Year Round)
- The two reliable first-issue points are: the original cloth with the figure of the woman stamped in WHITE on the spine (later issues have her stamped in blind), and the 16-page publisher's catalogue at the rear of volume III dated August 1860 (catalogues dated later, such as November 1860, indicate a later issue)
- References: Sadleir 605a
- Wolff 1377
- Publisher imprint reads Sampson Low, Son & Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Wilkie Collins |
| Publisher | Sampson Low, Son & Co. |
| Year | 1860 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Three volumes, Sampson Low, Son & Co., London, 1860 (following serialization in All the Year Round) |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Three volumes, Sampson Low, Son & Co., London, 1860 (following serialization in All the Year Round). The two reliable first-issue points are: the original cloth with the figure of the woman stamped in WHITE on the spine (later issues have her stamped in blind), and the 16-page publisher's catalogue at the rear of volume III dated August 1860 (catalogues dated later, such as November 1860, indicate a later issue). References: Sadleir 605a; Wolff 1377; Parrish.

## Is this the true first?
The London Sampson Low 1860 three-decker is the true first; the Harper American edition of 1860 is secondary. Precedence and issue are established by the August 1860 rear catalogue in volume III and the woman-stamped-in-white spine, not by the year alone.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later British issues carry the woman stamped in blind on the spine and rear catalogues dated after August 1860; corrected-text and one-volume reprints are later still.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Woman in White* by Wilkie Collins a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-woman-in-white
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.