Is My Copy of The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The title-page imprint reads: "London: Printed for and sold by the AUTHOR, No. 10, Union-Street, Middlesex Hospital: Sold also by Mr. Johnson, St. Paul's Church-Yard
• Mr. Murray, Fleet-Street
• Robson and Clark, Bond-Street
• Mr. Davis, opposite Gray's Inn, Holborn..." and carries no edition statement
• That absence is the decisive point: every subsequent self-published edition is numbered on its title page, and the second edition — also London, 1789, also by Equiano — is lettered "SECOND EDITION" there
• Volume I carries the engraved frontispiece portrait of Equiano by Daniel Orme after W. Denton, with the plate line "Published March 1, 1789 by G. Vassa"; the plate was struck roughly three weeks before the book itself appeared

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. 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.
3. Verify this is the UK true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. 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.
5. 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 London 1789 two-volume self-published edition is the true first; there is no earlier or competing original-language printing. Equiano retained control of the book and issued a rapid sequence of numbered editions through 1794, among them a Dublin fourth (1791), an Edinburgh fifth (1792) and a Norwich eighth (1794). The first American edition is New York: printed and sold by W. Durell, 1791 (Evans 23353), two volumes with plates engraved by Cornelius Tiebout — reprinted without Equiano's authorisation. The New York 1791 is separately collected as the first American, but it is a reprint of the London text, not a state of the first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Not applicable — the book predates book-club publishing. The reprint tell across the eighteenth-century sequence is the numbered edition statement on the title page ("SECOND EDITION" onward), which the 1789 first alone lacks. Nineteenth-century and modern reprints and scholarly editions are set from the 1789 or 1794 text and are identified by their own imprints and dates.P-038238

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano a first edition?

A first edition of The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano by Olaudah Equiano (Printed for and sold by the author, London) is identified by: Two volumes, self-published.

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 London 1789 two-volume self-published edition is the true first; there is no earlier or competing original-language printing.

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

Not applicable — the book predates book-club publishing. The reprint tell across the eighteenth-century sequence is the numbered edition statement on the title page ("SECOND EDITION" onward), which the 1789 first alone lacks. Nineteenth-century and modern reprints and scholarly editions are set from the 1789 or 1794 text and are identified by their own imprints and dates.

I have a first edition of The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.