How to Identify a Roberts Brothers First Edition

How to identify a first printing

• No printed first-edition statement: identify by date agreement (title-page year matching the copyright year) and the absence of any reprint notice.
• Many titles were issued in numbered 'thousands' — a 'Twentieth Thousand' or similar count on the title page indicates a later printing; first printings carry no such count.
• For key works, title-specific points (not a house rule) govern priority; consult the relevant author bibliography for binding and textual states.

Notable points & cautions

• Active 1857-1898 (publishing from the early 1860s); absorbed by Little, Brown in 1898.
• Publisher of Louisa May Alcott (Little Women, 1868), Emily Dickinson (Poems, 1890; Second Series, 1891), Helen Hunt Jackson (Ramona, 1884), and Julia Ward Howe.
• Dickinson, Poems: Second Series (1891), first printing exists in two simultaneous trade bindings — olive decorated cloth and a two-tone cloth — with no established priority, a well-known point.
• Issued the 'No Name Series' of deliberately anonymous works (note that Dickinson's Poems appeared under her name, not in this series).

Imprints

First editions also appear under: Roberts Brothers, No Name Series (anonymous-author series, 1876-1887). Each generally follows the house convention above.

Frequently asked questions

How do I know if my Roberts Brothers book is a first edition?

Check the copyright page. No printed first-edition statement: identify by date agreement (title-page year matching the copyright year) and the absence of any reprint notice. Many titles were issued in numbered 'thousands' — a 'Twentieth Thousand' or similar count on the title page indicates a later printing; first printings carry no such count.

Does Roberts Brothers use a number line?

Many titles were issued in numbered 'thousands' — a 'Twentieth Thousand' or similar count on the title page indicates a later printing; first printings carry no such count.

Is a book-club edition a Roberts Brothers first edition?

No. Book-club editions reprint the text but are not the true first edition. Active 1857-1898 (publishing from the early 1860s); absorbed by Little, Brown in 1898.

What era does this cover?

This covers Roberts Brothers (1857-1898; antiquarian). Conventions changed over time, so confirm the era of your copy.