Is My Two on a Tower a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First published in three volumes by Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington in October 1882, in an edition of 1,000 copies, following serialization in the Atlantic Monthly (May-December 1882)
• The first-edition binding is green diagonal fine-ribbed cloth, lettered in gilt on the spine and blocked in blind on both boards within a three-rule border, with pale-yellow endpapers
• Reviewers attacked the novel as irreligious and immoral for its plot involving a bishop's marriage to the pregnant widowed heroine, and Hardy toned down the offending passages beginning with the second edition of 1883
• Sadleir ranked the book the seventh scarcest of Hardy's first editions

How Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington marked a first edition

• No printed edition statement on 19th-century firsts: use title-page date plus absence of any later-printing notice, and read the exact partnership style in the imprint (the firm's name changed repeatedly, which helps dat…
• Dated inserted advertisements or catalogue, usually at the rear; a first should not advertise later books.

Full Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington 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. Verify this is the American true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. 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.
6. 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.

Is this the true first?

American editions from Henry Holt and John W. Lovell followed the same year; the three-volume Sampson Low London edition of October 1882 is the true first.P-034845

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later Sampson Low or collected-edition printings carry Hardy's toned-down 1883 revisions; only the 1882 three-volume set has the original unrevised text.P-034846

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Two on a Tower a first edition?

A first edition of Two on a Tower by Thomas Hardy (Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington) is identified by: First published in three volumes by Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington in October 1882, in an edition of 1,000 copies, following serialization in the Atlantic Monthly (May-December 1882).

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. American editions from Henry Holt and John W.

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

Later Sampson Low or collected-edition printings carry Hardy's toned-down 1883 revisions; only the 1882 three-volume set has the original unrevised text.

I have a first edition of Two on a Tower — 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.