How to Identify a James R. Osgood & Company First Edition

How to identify a first printing

• Follows the inherited Ticknor/Fields practice: no first-edition statement. Match the title-page date to the copyright date with no later printing noted.
• Dated rear advertisement/catalogue sections can aid printing priority within a title's issue.
• For the major Mark Twain titles (The Prince and the Pauper, 1882; Life on the Mississippi, 1883), priority is established by bibliographic points and states (text and illustration points) rather than any publisher edition statement; consult title-specific point references such as BAL.

Notable points & cautions

• James R. Osgood rose from clerk at Ticknor & Fields to partner; his firm is the direct continuation of that lineage.
• Merged with Hurd & Houghton's interests as Houghton, Osgood & Company (1878-1880), after which Houghton continued as Houghton, Mifflin & Co. (retaining the Ticknor and Fields backlist) and Osgood revived his own firm; the firm failed in 1885.
• Published Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper (1882) and Life on the Mississippi (1883), where priority is set by issue points; also Howells, Henry James, and Aldrich.
• Because the firm changed names twice, the imprint on the title page is itself a dating signal.

Imprints

First editions also appear under: James R. Osgood & Company (1871-1878), Houghton, Osgood & Company (1878-1880), James R. Osgood & Company (revived, 1880-1885). Each generally follows the house convention above.

Frequently asked questions

How do I know if my James R. Osgood & Company book is a first edition?

Check the copyright page. Follows the inherited Ticknor/Fields practice: no first-edition statement. Match the title-page date to the copyright date with no later printing noted. Dated rear advertisement/catalogue sections can aid printing priority within a title's issue.

Does James R. Osgood & Company use a number line?

Dated rear advertisement/catalogue sections can aid printing priority within a title's issue.

Is a book-club edition a James R. Osgood & Company first edition?

No. Book-club editions reprint the text but are not the true first edition. James R. Osgood rose from clerk at Ticknor & Fields to partner; his firm is the direct continuation of that lineage.

What era does this cover?

This covers James R. Osgood & Company (1871-1885; antiquarian). Conventions changed over time, so confirm the era of your copy.