How to Identify a Richard Bentley (Richard Bentley & Son) First Edition

How to identify a first printing

• No edition statement on Victorian firsts: rely on the title-page date with no 'New Edition' / 'Second Edition' line, plus correct half-titles in each of the three volumes.
• Inserted advertisement leaves or catalogue at the front or rear, dated; a first should not list books published after the title-page date, and the dated catalogue often pins the printing.
• Bentley's Standard Novels (single-volume reprint series, 1831 onward) is explicitly a reprint line — those volumes are NOT the first edition of a work, though some carry revised or new prefaces of bibliographic interest.
• Volume count and pagination must match the bibliography (three-decker fiction); reissued or remaindered copies show later cancel title pages — e.g., the Oliver Twist title-page change between the first and second issue.

Notable points & cautions

• Successor to the Colburn & Bentley partnership; published Dickens's Oliver Twist (1838, 3 vols, 'by Boz') and ran Bentley's Miscellany.
• Oliver Twist first issue (Nov 1838) names the author as 'Boz' on the title pages; the second issue (Nov 1838) substitutes 'Charles Dickens' — a diagnostic title-page point.
• Bentley's Standard Novels series helped standardize cheap reprints and is a classic trap for novices who mistake a series volume for a first.
• The three-volume novel was the staple; the absence of a printed edition notice is the rule, so points plus dated ads do the identification work.
• Firm and its list acquired by Macmillan in 1898.

Imprints

First editions also appear under: Henry Colburn & Richard Bentley (1829-1832), Richard Bentley (1832-1866), Richard Bentley & Son (1866-1898), Bentley's Standard Novels series, Temple Bar (magazine). Each generally follows the house convention above.

Frequently asked questions

How do I know if my Richard Bentley (Richard Bentley & Son) book is a first edition?

Check the copyright page. No edition statement on Victorian firsts: rely on the title-page date with no 'New Edition' / 'Second Edition' line, plus correct half-titles in each of the three volumes. Inserted advertisement leaves or catalogue at the front or rear, dated; a first should not list books published after the title-page date, and the dated catalogue often pins the printing.

Does Richard Bentley (Richard Bentley & Son) use a number line?

Inserted advertisement leaves or catalogue at the front or rear, dated; a first should not list books published after the title-page date, and the dated catalogue often pins the printing.

Is a book-club edition a Richard Bentley (Richard Bentley & Son) first edition?

No. Book-club editions reprint the text but are not the true first edition. Successor to the Colburn & Bentley partnership; published Dickens's Oliver Twist (1838, 3 vols, 'by Boz') and ran Bentley's Miscellany.

What era does this cover?

This covers Richard Bentley (Richard Bentley & Son) (1829-1898). Conventions changed over time, so confirm the era of your copy.