Is My Twenty-Two Years a Slave, and Forty Years a Freeman a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The first edition's title page reads 'Twenty-Two Years a Slave, and Forty Years a Freeman
• Embracing a Correspondence of Several Years, While President of Wilberforce Colony, London, Canada West
• Rochester: William Alling, 1857,' printed by A. Strong & Co
• It collates 360 pages, octavo, with four wood-engraved illustrations, and is bound in the publisher's gray cloth, titled in gilt and stamped in blind
• Steward's account is one of only two published 19th-century slave narratives centered on upstate New York — the other being Peter Wheeler's 1839 narrative — tracing his enslavement in the Genesee Valley and his later leadership of the Wilberforce settlement in Canada West

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

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

Steward's narrative was reprinted several times after 1857; by the stated Fourth Edition, issued 'Published by the Author' from Canandaigua, NY in 1867, the binding had changed to brown cloth rather than the first edition's gray — only the original 1857 Rochester, William Alling printing in gray cloth is the true first edition.P-035908

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Twenty-Two Years a Slave, and Forty Years a Freeman a first edition?

A first edition of Twenty-Two Years a Slave, and Forty Years a Freeman by Austin Steward (William Alling) is identified by: The first edition's title page reads 'Twenty-Two Years a Slave, and Forty Years a Freeman; Embracing a Correspondence of Several Years, While President of Wilberforce Colony, London, Canada West.

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?

Steward's narrative was reprinted several times after 1857; by the stated Fourth Edition, issued 'Published by the Author' from Canandaigua, NY in 1867, the binding had changed to brown cloth rather than the first edition's gray — only the original 1857 Rochester, William Alling printing in gray cloth is the true first edition.

I have a first edition of Twenty-Two Years a Slave, and Forty Years a Freeman — 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.