# Is "Waverley; or, 'Tis Sixty Years Since" by Walter Scott a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Waverley; or, 'Tis Sixty Years Since by Walter Scott (Archibald Constable and Co., 1814) is identified by: First edition, published anonymously (as with all Waverley novels before 1827) in three volumes, an edition of 1,000 copies, issued 7 July 1814 in Edinburgh with the London issue following later that month. The Edinburgh (Constable) issue of 7 July 1814 precedes the London (Longman) issue later the same month.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, published anonymously (as with all Waverley novels before 1827) in three volumes, an edition of 1,000 copies, issued 7 July 1814 in Edinburgh with the London issue following later that month
- Collation includes half-titles and fly-titles in each volume; genuine first-edition sheets show the two cancel leaves recorded in Worthington's bibliography -- leaf a4 (pp
- 7-8) in volume one and leaf A2 (pp
- 3-4) in volume two -- with no cancel recorded in volume three
- The title page reads 'Waverley; or, 'Tis Sixty Years Since
- In Three Volumes,' with no author named anywhere in the set
- Publisher imprint reads Archibald Constable and Co.

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Walter Scott |
| Publisher | Archibald Constable and Co. |
| Year | 1814 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, published anonymously (as with all Waverley novels before 1827) in three volumes, an edition of 1,000 copies, issued 7 July… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, published anonymously (as with all Waverley novels before 1827) in three volumes, an edition of 1,000 copies, issued 7 July 1814 in Edinburgh with the London issue following later that month. Collation includes half-titles and fly-titles in each volume; genuine first-edition sheets show the two cancel leaves recorded in Worthington's bibliography -- leaf a4 (pp. 7-8) in volume one and leaf A2 (pp. 3-4) in volume two -- with no cancel recorded in volume three. The title page reads 'Waverley; or, 'Tis Sixty Years Since. In Three Volumes,' with no author named anywhere in the set. Copies were issued in the original paper-covered boards, edges uncut, with a printed paper spine label; board color varies between genuine copies and is not by itself a reliable indicator of originality, and most surviving sets have since been rebound.

## Is this the true first?
The Edinburgh (Constable) issue of 7 July 1814 precedes the London (Longman) issue later the same month.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Scott did not publicly acknowledge authorship of the Waverley novels until 1827. Later one-volume reprints and cheap 'Author's Edition' sets from 1829 onward, beginning with Robert Cadell's 48-volume 'Magnum Opus,' carry Scott's name on the title page and lack the original three-volume half-title and cancel-leaf structure of the 1814 sheets.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Waverley; or, 'Tis Sixty Years Since* by Walter Scott a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/waverley-or-tis-sixty-years-since
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.