# Is "A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (John P. Jewett & Company, 1853) is identified by: First edition, 1853: tall 8vo, 262 pp. The true first is the 1853 Boston edition (John P.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, 1853: tall 8vo, 262 pp. of text (including the index) followed by two pages of publisher's advertisements; stereotyped by Hobart & Robbins (New England Type and Stereotype Foundery, Boston) -- their imprint on the copyright page -- and printed by Damrell & Moore of Boston
- Issued simultaneously under the Boston imprint of John P. Jewett & Company and the Cleveland imprint of Jewett, Proctor and Worthington
- Bound in brown publisher's cloth, spine lettered in bright gilt, boards blind-stamped, with yellow endpapers
- Compiled by Stowe as a documentary companion presenting the facts and documents behind Uncle Tom's Cabin
- Publisher imprint reads John P. Jewett & Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Harriet Beecher Stowe |
| Publisher | John P. Jewett & Company |
| Year | 1853 |
| True first | British edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, 1853: tall 8vo, 262 pp. of text (including the index) followed by two pages of publisher's advertisements; stereotyped by… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition, 1853: tall 8vo, 262 pp. of text (including the index) followed by two pages of publisher's advertisements; stereotyped by Hobart & Robbins (New England Type and Stereotype Foundery, Boston) -- their imprint on the copyright page -- and printed by Damrell & Moore of Boston. Issued simultaneously under the Boston imprint of John P. Jewett & Company and the Cleveland imprint of Jewett, Proctor and Worthington. Bound in brown publisher's cloth, spine lettered in bright gilt, boards blind-stamped, with yellow endpapers. Compiled by Stowe as a documentary companion presenting the facts and documents behind Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852).

## Is this the true first?
The true first is the 1853 Boston edition (John P. Jewett & Company; Cleveland: Jewett, Proctor and Worthington). Same-year (1853) London editions -- notably Sampson Low, Son & Co. (the first English edition), plus other British reprints such as Clarke, Beeton & Co. -- followed the American edition and do NOT precede it. This documentary 'Key' is a separate book from the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) and should not be conflated with it; unlike the novel, the Key was not serialized in the National Era.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book club. The Key was reprinted promptly (later Jewett printings and multiple 1853 London reprints). A genuine American first shows the 262-pp. collation, the Hobart & Robbins stereotype line, and the paired Boston (Jewett) / Cleveland (Jewett, Proctor and Worthington) imprint; later reprints and the London editions carry different imprints or resettings and are not the first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin* by Harriet Beecher Stowe a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-key-to-uncle-toms-cabin
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.