Is My Wessex Poems and Other Verses a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition limited to 500 copies, published in London by Harper & Brothers of 45 Albemarle Street in December 1898 — dealers record the week of 11 December
• Crown octavo (roughly 200 x 131 mm), xi, [1], 228 pages
• Publisher's original green ribbed cloth, spine lettered in gilt, a gilt medallion enclosing Hardy's TH monogram on the upper cover, top edge gilt, other edges uncut
• Illustrated from Hardy's own drawings, including full-page plates and a frontispiece; sources consulted count them as either 30 or 31, so treat the exact number as unsettled
• Hardy's preface notes the drawings were made recently rather than at the time the poems were written
• No printing statement and no number line

How Harper & Brothers, London marked a first edition

• 1912-1949: month/year letter code on copyright page. Month: A=Jan, B=Feb, C=Mar, D=Apr, E=May, F=Jun, G=Jul, H=Aug, I=Sep, K=Oct, L=Nov, M=Dec (J skipped).
• Year code (J skipped): M=1912, N=1913 ... Z=1925, then A=1926, B=1927 ... Z=1950 (cycles).

Full Harper & Brothers, London 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. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
4. Verify this is the UK 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?

UK precedes US, despite a shared imprint that invites error. Harper & Brothers ran both a London and a New York house and the title pages name both cities, so the imprint alone will not separate the editions. The London edition dated 1898, limited to 500 copies, is the true first. The first American edition is dated 1899, bound in light green cloth with pictorial decoration in colours, and followed roughly six weeks after the London book from New York (Purdy p. 106); the number of American copies is not recorded. The title-page date — 1898 against 1899 — is the working discriminator. This was Hardy's first collection of verse and marks his turn from fiction to poetry; his novels are separately collected and share none of these points.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition — the book predates book-club publishing. The reprint tell that matters concerns the illustrations: Hardy's drawings were dropped when Wessex Poems was next reprinted in 1912, so any copy of this title lacking the author's illustrations is a later edition. A copy dated 1899 is the American edition, not a second state or later issue of the London first.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Wessex Poems and Other Verses a first edition?

A first edition of Wessex Poems and Other Verses by Thomas Hardy (Harper & Brothers, London) is identified by: First edition limited to 500 copies, published in London by Harper & Brothers of 45 Albemarle Street in December 1898 — dealers record the week of 11 December.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). UK precedes US, despite a shared imprint that invites error.

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

No book-club edition — the book predates book-club publishing. The reprint tell that matters concerns the illustrations: Hardy's drawings were dropped when Wessex Poems was next reprinted in 1912, so any copy of this title lacking the author's illustrations is a later edition. A copy dated 1899 is the American edition, not a second state or later issue of the London first.

I have a first edition of Wessex Poems and Other Verses — 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.