Is My Sketches by Boz a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Two separately published series, both John Macrone, London, both 12mo, both illustrated by George Cruikshank; a complete first edition is three volumes
• First Series: two volumes, February 1836 — 'Sketches by "Boz," Illustrative of Every-Day Life, and Every-Day People' — with two etched frontispieces and 14 plates; original dark olive-green embossed leaf-pattern (seaweed-grain) cloth, spines gilt with a decorative shield enclosing the lettering, yellow endpapers (Thomas Hatton's own set had orange endpapers and he recorded only three seen so bound)
• Second Series: one volume, 'Complete in One Volume', title page dated 1837 though published December 1836 — half-title, etched frontispiece ('Seven Dials'), etched pictorial title and 8 plates (some cataloguers count the pictorial title among the plates and give 9); original speckled pink / rose sand-grain cloth, covers with a central wreath and linear borders in blind, spine lettered in gilt within black frames
• 20pp. publisher's catalogue dated December 1836 at the end
• The Second Series first-issue point is the Contents leaf: the first state is loosely inserted and lacks the list of illustrations, the second state has the illustrations listed on the verso
• An early — possibly suppressed — Second Series issue is recorded with 'Vol

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
4. Verify this is the UK true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
6. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

The census claim is confirmed. This is Dickens's true first book: the Macrone First Series of February 1836 precedes the first number of The Pickwick Papers (March 1836). There is no UK-vs-US or foreign-language precedence question. Note the date conflict in the record: Wikipedia dates the Second Series to August 1836, but this is contradicted by the auction and dealer record — the 20pp. of publisher's advertisements bound at the end are dated December 1836 and the printed title-page reads 1837, and Sotheby's catalogues the volume as '1837 [1836]'. December 1836 with an 1837-dated printed title is the correct description. A complete set requires both Series, each in its own distinct publisher's cloth (leaf-patterned dark green for the First Series, speckled pink for the Second) — the two series were never uniformly bound.P-041468

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book club edition. The 'first thus' traps are the reissues, and they are the books most people actually encounter. Macrone's own second edition of the First Series (1836) adds a new preface — an added preface is the tell. More consequentially, Chapman & Hall reissued the Sketches in twenty monthly parts, 1837-39, with new Cruikshank plates and a new vignette title, and sold the collected result from 1839 as the one-volume 'Sketches by Boz, Complete'; that Chapman & Hall text is the one endlessly reprinted and is routinely offered as an early Dickens first. Later states of the Second Series carry the list of illustrations on the Contents verso. Sets made up from odd volumes, or with the two series rebound to match each other, have had the cloth and endpaper evidence destroyed.P-041469

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Sketches by Boz a first edition?

A first edition of Sketches by Boz by Charles Dickens (John Macrone, London) is identified by: Two separately published series, both John Macrone, London, both 12mo, both illustrated by George Cruikshank; a complete first edition is three volumes.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. The census claim is confirmed.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

No book club edition. The 'first thus' traps are the reissues, and they are the books most people actually encounter. Macrone's own second edition of the First Series (1836) adds a new preface — an added preface is the tell. More consequentially, Chapman & Hall reissued the Sketches in twenty monthly parts, 1837-39, with new Cruikshank plates and a new vignette title, and sold the collected result from 1839 as the one-volume 'Sketches by Boz, Complete'; that Chapman & Hall text is the one endles

I have a first edition of Sketches by Boz — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.