Is My 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)
• CORRECTION to the submitted record: Part 1 is 1869, NOT 1870 — the text first edition spans 1869–1870, so 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
• 121 (20 March 1869) to vol

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.

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.

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.

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. In English, essentially all common copies are 20th-century reprints of the flawed Mercier text (Everyman, Scribner, book-club / Junior Deluxe reprints, etc.); the o

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 — 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.