New Grub Street

The Smith, Elder London three-decker of 1891 is the true first, confirming the census claim, and precedence is not contested: no American edition of 1891 is recorded in any source consulted. The census note that 'early US editions are later and abridged' needs qualifying on both counts. The American edition came much later — one source reports the first American issue appearing only after Gissing's death in December 1903, a date that could not be corroborated against a second independent source. And the abridgement is Gissing's own: he revised and shortened the novel for a French edition of 1901, dropping passages of autobiographical reminiscence, and could not find an English publisher willing to issue the revised version. Later one-volume reprints, including Eveleigh Nash & Grayson (London, 1927), carry a shortened text and are 'first thus' at best.