# Is "Two Years Before the Mast: A Personal Narrative of Life at Sea" by Richard Henry Dana Jr. a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Two Years Before the Mast: A Personal Narrative of Life at Sea by Richard Henry Dana Jr. (Harper & Brothers, 1840) is identified by: First edition, published September 1840 by Harper & Brothers as No.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, published September 1840 by Harper & Brothers as No
- CVI in 'Harper's Family Library,' issued anonymously apart from the author's initials appearing on page 5
- Two printings dated 1840 are recorded; the true first printing is identified by a dot over the 'i' in the word 'in' (first line of the copyright notice) and by an unbroken running head on page 9 -- both absent or altered in the second 1840 printing
- BAL records two binding states: binding A in grained black cloth with the spine stamped in gold, and binding B in tan muslin stamped in black (the tan muslin itself occurring in three further sub-states distinguished by variant lists of other Harper's Family Library titles printed on the back cover)
- Publisher imprint reads Harper & Brothers
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Richard Henry Dana Jr. |
| Publisher | Harper & Brothers |
| Year | 1840 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, published September 1840 by Harper & Brothers as No |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, published September 1840 by Harper & Brothers as No. CVI in 'Harper's Family Library,' issued anonymously apart from the author's initials appearing on page 5. Two printings dated 1840 are recorded; the true first printing is identified by a dot over the 'i' in the word 'in' (first line of the copyright notice) and by an unbroken running head on page 9 -- both absent or altered in the second 1840 printing. BAL records two binding states: binding A in grained black cloth with the spine stamped in gold, and binding B in tan muslin stamped in black (the tan muslin itself occurring in three further sub-states distinguished by variant lists of other Harper's Family Library titles printed on the back cover).

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later 19th and 20th-century editions credit Dana by name on the title page and are extensively revised (Dana's own 1869 revised and expanded edition, with a new final chapter, is textually distinct from and postdates the original anonymous 1840 first printing).

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Two Years Before the Mast: A Personal Narrative of Life at Sea* by Richard Henry Dana Jr. a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/two-years-before-the-mast-a-personal-narrative-of-life-at-se
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.