Is My Copy of Vingt mille lieues sous les mers (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Two distinct "firsts" must be separated
• TEXT FIRST EDITION — the in-18 (small format), unillustrated typographic edition from Hetzel's Bibliothèque d'Éducation et de Récréation, issued in TWO PARTS with DIFFERENT YEARS: Première Partie published 28 October 1869 (title-page dated 1869), Deuxième Partie published 13 June 1870 (title-page dated 1870)
• The text first edition therefore spans 1869–1870: a genuine text-first set pairs an 1869 first volume with an 1870 second volume
• This carries the earliest text
• Pre-original serialization ran in the Magasin d'éducation et de récréation from vol. 11 no
• 121 (20 March 1869) to vol. 13 no

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.

Is this the true first?

Precedence: The ORIGINAL-LANGUAGE FIRST is the French Hetzel edition — text first in the in-18 two-part edition, Part 1 (28 October 1869) and Part 2 (13 June 1870), Paris: J. Hetzel — with the celebrated first ILLUSTRATED edition (grand in-8, 111 De Neuville/Riou plates engraved by Hildibrand) following 16 November 1871; pre-original serialization began 20 March 1869 in the Magasin d'éducation et de récréation. FIRST ENGLISH TRANSLATION: "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas," translated by the Rev. Lewis Page Mercier (under the pseudonym "Mercier Lewis"), London: Sampson Low, Marston, Low, and Searle — printed late 1872, with the title page dated 1873 (as called for). It is a notoriously abridged and error-riddled translation (roughly a quarter of Verne's text cut) but is the true first English-language book edition; original publisher's green cloth, stamped in black and gilt, is the desirable state and is scarce.P-017221

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition bears on identifying the 19th-century first. Modern-market pitfall instead: the vast majority of "Hetzel" copies offered are later re-issues of the Voyages Extraordinaires in the "aux deux éléphants" cartonnage (from 1875, standard to ~1891) or still-later Hetzel/Hachette printings — these are NOT the 1871 first. In English, essentially all common copies are 20th-century reprints of the flawed Mercier text (Everyman, Scribner, book-club / Junior Deluxe reprints, etc.); the only first is the Sampson Low edition (printed 1872, title-page 1873). Reprint/re-issue status is diagnosed by the binding plate and imprint, not by the color of the cloth.P-017222

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Vingt mille lieues sous les mers (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas) a first edition?

A first edition of Vingt mille lieues sous les mers (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas) by Jules Verne (Pierre-Jules Hetzel, Paris) is identified by: Two distinct "firsts" must be separated.

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. Precedence: The ORIGINAL-LANGUAGE FIRST is the French Hetzel edition — text first in the in-18 two-part edition, Part 1 (28 October 1869) and Part 2 (13 June 1870), Paris: J. Hetzel — with the celebrated first ILLUSTRATED edition (grand in-8, 111 De Neuville/Riou plates engraved by Hildibrand) following 16 November 1871; pre-original serialization began 20 March 1869 in the Magasin d'éducation et de récréation.

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

No book-club edition bears on identifying the 19th-century first. Modern-market pitfall instead: the vast majority of "Hetzel" copies offered are later re-issues of the Voyages Extraordinaires in the "aux deux éléphants" cartonnage (from 1875, standard to ~1891) or still-later Hetzel/Hachette printings — these are NOT the 1871 first.

I have a first edition of Vingt mille lieues sous les mers (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas) — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.