# Is "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (William S. Gottsberger, 1886) is identified by: The Clara Bell translation, rendered from a French version rather than directly from the Russian, was issued in the United States by William S. The Gottsberger (New York) edition holds clear priority: its three two-volume installments appeared across 1886 beginning in January, well ahead of any English edition in Britain.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The Clara Bell translation, rendered from a French version rather than directly from the Russian, was issued in the United States by William S. Gottsberger, New York, as six small octavo volumes bound in three two-volume installments across 1886, beginning in January
- The title page states the translation lineage explicitly: 'Translated into French by a Russian Lady, and from the French by Clara Bell; revised and corrected in the United States.' Because no direct Russian-to-English translation of the novel existed until 1889, this text was rendered at two removes from Tolstoy's original
- Publisher imprint reads William S. Gottsberger
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Leo Tolstoy |
| Publisher | William S. Gottsberger |
| Year | 1886 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The Clara Bell translation, rendered from a French version rather than directly from the Russian, was issued in the United States by… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The Clara Bell translation, rendered from a French version rather than directly from the Russian, was issued in the United States by William S. Gottsberger, New York, as six small octavo volumes bound in three two-volume installments across 1886, beginning in January. The title page states the translation lineage explicitly: 'Translated into French by a Russian Lady, and from the French by Clara Bell; revised and corrected in the United States.' Because no direct Russian-to-English translation of the novel existed until 1889, this text was rendered at two removes from Tolstoy's original.

## Is this the true first?
The Gottsberger (New York) edition holds clear priority: its three two-volume installments appeared across 1886 beginning in January, well ahead of any English edition in Britain. Vizetelly & Co. of London did not issue an independent translation but pirated Bell's Gottsberger text without attribution, publishing it in three volumes in October 1886, as recorded in the Publisher's Circular of 15 October 1886; it is not a rival authorized edition.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The later authorized translations made directly from the Russian (by Nathan Haskell Dole for Crowell in 1889, and Constance Garnett's 1904 version) are textually independent of the 1886 Bell/Gottsberger edition; a modern reprint using Garnett's, Maude's, or a later translator's text is unrelated to the first English edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *War and Peace* by Leo Tolstoy a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/war-and-peace
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.