# Is "Zoonomia; or, The Laws of Organic Life" by Erasmus Darwin a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Zoonomia; or, The Laws of Organic Life by Erasmus Darwin (J. Johnson, 1794) is identified by: First edition, two volumes issued two years apart: volume I dated 1794, collating viii, 586, [2] pages with 6 hand-colored plates; volume II dated 1796, collating xi, 772 pages with 4 engraved plates.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, two volumes issued two years apart: volume I dated 1794, collating viii, 586, [2] pages with 6 hand-colored plates; volume II dated 1796, collating xi, 772 pages with 4 engraved plates
- Both volumes are quarto, printed for J. Johnson at his St
- Paul's Churchyard address in London
- A matched first-edition set should show 1794 on the volume I title page and 1796 on volume II's, not a single matching date
- Publisher imprint reads J. Johnson
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Erasmus Darwin |
| Publisher | J. Johnson |
| Year | 1794 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, two volumes issued two years apart: volume I dated 1794, collating viii, 586, [2] pages with 6 hand-colored plates; volume… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, two volumes issued two years apart: volume I dated 1794, collating viii, 586, [2] pages with 6 hand-colored plates; volume II dated 1796, collating xi, 772 pages with 4 engraved plates. Both volumes are quarto, printed for J. Johnson at his St. Paul's Churchyard address in London. A matched first-edition set should show 1794 on the volume I title page and 1796 on volume II's, not a single matching date.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
American reprintings (T. & J. Swords's New York edition of volume one, 1796, and Thomas Dobson's Philadelphia edition of volume two, 1797) reset the type with different pagination and are not the first London printing.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Zoonomia; or, The Laws of Organic Life* by Erasmus Darwin a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/zoonomia-or-the-laws-of-organic-life
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.