# Is "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Brontë (as 'Ellis Bell') a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (as 'Ellis Bell') (Thomas Cautley Newby, 1847) is identified by: Published December 1847 by Newby in three volumes as a matched set with Anne Brontë's Agnes Grey: Wuthering Heights fills volumes I and II, Agnes Grey occupies volume III. The UK Newby 1847 three-volume set is the true first; a complete copy must include the Agnes Grey volume to be a matched set.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Published December 1847 by Newby in three volumes as a matched set with Anne Brontë's Agnes Grey: Wuthering Heights fills volumes I and II, Agnes Grey occupies volume III. Title pages credit 'Ellis Bell' (Wuthering Heights) and 'Acton Bell' (Agnes Grey)
- The Newby printing is notoriously careless: erratic pagination, missing and faulty punctuation, three misspellings of 'Heights' (as 'Heghts') and several of 'Agnes' (as 'Anges')
- The print run is believed to have been very small, around 250 copies
- Publisher imprint reads Thomas Cautley Newby
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Emily Brontë (as 'Ellis Bell') |
| Publisher | Thomas Cautley Newby |
| Year | 1847 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Published December 1847 by Newby in three volumes as a matched set with Anne Brontë's Agnes Grey: Wuthering Heights fills volumes I and II… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Published December 1847 by Newby in three volumes as a matched set with Anne Brontë's Agnes Grey: Wuthering Heights fills volumes I and II, Agnes Grey occupies volume III. Title pages credit 'Ellis Bell' (Wuthering Heights) and 'Acton Bell' (Agnes Grey). The Newby printing is notoriously careless: erratic pagination, missing and faulty punctuation, three misspellings of 'Heights' (as 'Heghts') and several of 'Agnes' (as 'Anges'). The print run is believed to have been very small, around 250 copies.

## Is this the true first?
The UK Newby 1847 three-volume set is the true first; a complete copy must include the Agnes Grey volume to be a matched set. The 1850 Smith, Elder one-volume reissue, edited by Charlotte with her preface and biographical notice and with Newby's errors corrected, is a later edited text, not the first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Any copy carrying Charlotte's 1850 preface, the biographical notice, or with Newby's printing errors corrected is a later edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Wuthering Heights* by Emily Brontë (as 'Ellis Bell') a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/wuthering-heights
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.