# Is "Westward Ho!" by Charles Kingsley a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Westward Ho! by Charles Kingsley (Macmillan & Co., 1855) is identified by: First edition, three volumes, octavo, bound in blue cloth with gilt-lettered spines and yellow endpapers, paginated viii,303,[1]; vi,367; vi,373,[1] across the three volumes, plus 16pp.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, three volumes, octavo, bound in blue cloth with gilt-lettered spines and yellow endpapers, paginated viii,303,[1]; vi,367; vi,373,[1] across the three volumes, plus 16pp. of publisher's catalogue
- The earliest state of the terminal catalogue in volume three is dated February 1855, with a first-issue misspelling on page 7 of the ads; a later state of the same catalogue is dated April 1855
- Half-titles appear in each volume, with a preliminary advertisement leaf in volume one
- Cited as Sadleir 1340 and Parrish p.26
- Publisher imprint reads Macmillan & Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Charles Kingsley |
| Publisher | Macmillan & Co. |
| Year | 1855 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, three volumes, octavo, bound in blue cloth with gilt-lettered spines and yellow endpapers, paginated viii,303,[1]; vi,367… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, three volumes, octavo, bound in blue cloth with gilt-lettered spines and yellow endpapers, paginated viii,303,[1]; vi,367; vi,373,[1] across the three volumes, plus 16pp. of publisher's catalogue. The earliest state of the terminal catalogue in volume three is dated February 1855, with a first-issue misspelling on page 7 of the ads; a later state of the same catalogue is dated April 1855. Half-titles appear in each volume, with a preliminary advertisement leaf in volume one. Cited as Sadleir 1340 and Parrish p.26.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
A second edition, identically dated 1855 with the same place and publisher on its title page, is distinguished only by the words 'second edition' on the title page itself, so the title page must be checked, not just the imprint date.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Westward Ho!* by Charles Kingsley a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/westward-ho
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.