Is My Travels in Arabia Deserta a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The true first edition was limited to 500 copies, printed in two volumes octavo, bound in original green cloth, uncut, after four commercial publishers declined Doughty's idiosyncratic, archaic-English manuscript before the Syndics of Cambridge University Press agreed to print it
• It is illustrated with an engraved portrait frontispiece, numerous plates (several folding) and in-text wood engravings, plus a color-printed folding map laid into a pocket at the rear of volume I, as issued
• The book sold poorly and remained commercially obscure for decades afterward

How Cambridge University Press marked a first edition

• Edition statement on title/copyright page
• Number line (modern era)

Full Cambridge University Press first-edition guide →

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. 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.
5. 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.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Neither the 1908 abridgment, Wanderings in Arabia (Edward Garnett's two-volume condensation of the text, published by Duckworth & Co. because Duckworth would not undertake the full unabridged work), nor the 1921 Jonathan Cape/Medici Society reissue with a new introduction by T. E. Lawrence, is the 1888 first edition; the 1921 printing reproduces Doughty's complete text in two volumes rather than abridging it, so genuine first editions are identified by the Cambridge University Press imprint, green cloth, and uncut edges rather than by any Lawrence connection.P-036072

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Travels in Arabia Deserta a first edition?

A first edition of Travels in Arabia Deserta by Charles M. Doughty (Cambridge University Press) is identified by: The true first edition was limited to 500 copies, printed in two volumes octavo, bound in original green cloth, uncut, after four commercial publishers declined Doughty's idiosyncratic, archaic-English manuscript before the Syndics of Cambridge University Press agreed to print it.

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.

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

Neither the 1908 abridgment, Wanderings in Arabia (Edward Garnett's two-volume condensation of the text, published by Duckworth & Co. because Duckworth would not undertake the full unabridged work), nor the 1921 Jonathan Cape/Medici Society reissue with a new introduction by T. E. Lawrence, is the 1888 first edition; the 1921 printing reproduces Doughty's complete text in two volumes rather than abridging it, so genuine first editions are identified by the Cambridge University Press imprint, gre

I have a first edition of Travels in Arabia Deserta — 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.