Is My Under the Greenwood Tree a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition, Tinsley Brothers, London, 1872, in two volumes, published anonymously — the title page reads 'Under the Greenwood Tree
• A Rural Painting of the Dutch School
• By the Author of "Desperate Remedies."' and Hardy's name does not appear
• Published early in June 1872, the date usually given being 15 June, in an edition of 500 copies
• The original binding is green sand-grain cloth over bevelled boards
• The half-title point is the one that decides sets and is routinely misread: a half-title was issued in volume I ONLY, and volume II correctly has none — a set described as 'lacking the half-title to volume II' is complete as issued, and a volume II carrying a half-title warrants scrutiny

How Tinsley Brothers marked a first edition

• No edition statement: a first is identified by the title-page date with no later-printing wording, complete in the correct number of volumes (usually three), with half-titles present.

Full Tinsley Brothers 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 US 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?

Census claim CONFIRMED as to the true first, with one correction to its US attribution: Tinsley Brothers, London, 1872 is the true first, Hardy's second novel and his first Wessex novel. The first American edition appeared in 1873 from Holt & Williams, New York — not 'Holt' simpliciter, though that firm shortly became Henry Holt & Co. — in the publisher's cream cloth decorated in black; it was in fact the first Hardy novel published in the United States, his debut having waited until 1874 there. It follows the Tinsley by a year, so there is no precedence contest and only the Tinsley two-volume set is the collected first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The title predates the book-club era and no book-club issue exists. Later one-volume issues, including an 1878 Chatto & Windus edition, are common and carry Hardy's name on the title page with a later date. A specific cataloguing trap to know: reputable dealers list an 1883 issue under the headline description 'the first Wessex novel,' which is a later printing — that phrase describes the work's place in Hardy's Wessex sequence and is not an edition statement, and the same phrase is applied to the genuine 1872 first. Read the imprint and date, not the headline.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Under the Greenwood Tree a first edition?

A first edition of Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy (Tinsley Brothers) is identified by: First edition, Tinsley Brothers, London, 1872, in two volumes, published anonymously — the title page reads 'Under the Greenwood Tree.

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. Census claim CONFIRMED as to the true first, with one correction to its US attribution: Tinsley Brothers, London, 1872 is the true first, Hardy's second novel and his first Wessex novel.

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

The title predates the book-club era and no book-club issue exists. Later one-volume issues, including an 1878 Chatto & Windus edition, are common and carry Hardy's name on the title page with a later date. A specific cataloguing trap to know: reputable dealers list an 1883 issue under the headline description 'the first Wessex novel,' which is a later printing — that phrase describes the work's place in Hardy's Wessex sequence and is not an edition statement, and the same phrase is applied to t

I have a first edition of Under the Greenwood Tree — 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.