# Is "Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, in the Years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, and 1773" by James Bruce a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, in the Years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, and 1773 by James Bruce (J. Ruthven, for G.G.J. and J. Robinson, 1790) is identified by: The true first edition is a five-volume quarto set, collating [xii], lxxxiv, 535, [1]; [iv], viii, 718; [iv], viii, 759, [1]; [iv], viii, 695, [1]; [iv], xiv, 230, [12] pages. The Edinburgh printing by J.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first edition is a five-volume quarto set, collating [xii], lxxxiv, 535, [1]; [iv], viii, 718; [iv], viii, 759, [1]; [iv], viii, 695, [1]; [iv], xiv, 230, [12] pages
- It is illustrated with roughly sixty plates and maps in total, including three large folding maps of Eastern Africa and Lake Tana, an engraved title-page vignette in each volume, and, in volume I, several inserted leaves of Ethiopian-language text (Ge'ez and Amharic) reproduced from Bruce's own transcriptions
- Bruce did not write up his account until he retired to his Scottish estate at Kinnaird, at the urging of Daines Barrington, some seventeen years after completing the journey the book describes
- Publisher imprint reads J. Ruthven, for G.G.J. and J. Robinson
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | James Bruce |
| Publisher | J. Ruthven, for G.G.J. and J. Robinson |
| Year | 1790 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first edition is a five-volume quarto set, collating [xii], lxxxiv, 535, [1]; [iv], viii, 718; [iv], viii, 759, [1]; [iv], viii… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The true first edition is a five-volume quarto set, collating [xii], lxxxiv, 535, [1]; [iv], viii, 718; [iv], viii, 759, [1]; [iv], viii, 695, [1]; [iv], xiv, 230, [12] pages. It is illustrated with roughly sixty plates and maps in total, including three large folding maps of Eastern Africa and Lake Tana, an engraved title-page vignette in each volume, and, in volume I, several inserted leaves of Ethiopian-language text (Ge'ez and Amharic) reproduced from Bruce's own transcriptions. Bruce did not write up his account until he retired to his Scottish estate at Kinnaird, at the urging of Daines Barrington, some seventeen years after completing the journey the book describes.

## Is this the true first?
The Edinburgh printing by J. Ruthven for G.G.J. and J. Robinson is the recognized first and 'best' edition of the text; a rival, unauthorized Dublin printing, from the press of William Sleater, also began appearing in 1790, with its first and sixth volumes dated 1790 and the remaining volumes dated 1791. Collectors should confirm the Edinburgh, Ruthven-printed imprint rather than assume any 1790-dated set is the true first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
A substantially revised and enlarged second edition, edited from Bruce's papers by Alexander Murray, appeared in Edinburgh in 1804-05, with a further Murray-edited edition following in 1813; both are distinct later editions, not the 1790 first, and should not be confused with it.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, in the Years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, and 1773* by James Bruce a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/travels-to-discover-the-source-of-the-nile-in-the-years-1768
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.