University of Virginia Library

The Printing, Proof-reading, and Publishing of Thackeray's Vanity Fair: The First Edition
by
Peter L. Shillingsburg

From time to time bookseller's catalogues offer Vanity Fair in parts with more or less extensive descriptive notes and references to Van Duzer's 1919 description of his Thackeray library.[1] Occasionally the descriptions refer to other known copies of the novel for comparison. One such catalogue refers to "the Austin copy" as "the finest copy of 'Vanity Fair' ever offered at auction in America" and ends its headnote on the current offering as "One of the Two Finest Copies Ever Offered at Auction in This Country."[2] Who owns the finest copy of Vanity Fair is a question likely to interest book collectors more than literary critics. And as long as fineness is determined by references to the condition of the wrappers and the priority of advertisements unconnected with the novel's text, it will remain a question of little importance to the critic. But it is an important question to both collectors and critics, and this for reasons hitherto unknown.

The basics are, of course, well-known: the first edition[3] consists of 20 numbers in 19 separate installment parts, each with 32 pages of text, additional leaves of advertisements, and printed yellow paper wrappers. The last installment contains numbers 19 and 20. The first number was published on 1 January 1847 and the final double number was published on 1 July 1848. Following completion of the serial issue, left-over sheets from that issue along with newly reprinted sheets from the same typesetting were used for publication of the novel in one volume. The publisher's accounts record multiple printings of this edition and continuous

availability of the novel in parts and book form throughout the 1850's and 60's.

This summary of the production of Vanity Fair gives a false impression of simplicity. And whether because as scholars and book collectors we prefer simplicity to facts or because the facts have been too difficult to ascertain, both scholars and book collectors have operated under certain naive assumptions which need dispelling—to wit: the idea that any given physical copy of Vanity Fair whether in parts or volume form might as a whole belong to a single printing (the production process of mid-nineteenth century serialized novels makes this as likely to be untrue as to be true); or the idea that the "printing," "issue," or "state" of the text of a serialized novel can be ascertained by reference to points in the wrappers. Regardless of the literary significance of the variants in Vanity Fair, their existence and distribution have an important bearing on the question of "fineness" or "priority" which till now has been inaccessible to book collectors. But the variants do, also, have literary significance and must attract the critics' notice. There are 210 variant readings between the printings within the first edition of which 150 are substantive, 17 being the addition, deletion, or substitution of passages ranging in length from three to seventy-five words. It would seem of some small importance to the literary critic to know that originally Mr. Jos Sedley in Vauxhall Gardens is referred to as a "fat bacchanalian" but that second thoughts delete that description,[4] or that Miss Crawley had originally signified her intention of dividing her "fortune equally" between Sir Pitt's second son and the family at the rectory, but that later the fortune is described merely as an "inheritance" to be divided without reference to proportion (77.25). And it must be of some interest to the followers of Becky's fortunes that in the original text the reason Colonel Crawley, though governor of Coventry Island, could settle on her only 300 pounds a year (out of an annual income of 3000) was that his revenues went to the "payment of certain debts and the insurance of his life," but that later the reference to life insurance was deleted (579.7-8). Indeed, both the critic and the printing historian stand to benefit as much as the book collector from the effort to determine who owns the finest copy of the first edition of Vanity Fair; for, though there is probably no satisfactory answer, the attempt at one requires that we focus attention not only on book-collecting values, but on the complex printing

history of the book, and the artistic effects of the author's continued interest in the composition of the work during the printing processes. We can determine when those 210 variants first appeared in the text, who was responsible for them, and finally what significance they have to our understanding and assessment of the novel.

As David Randall pointed out in his 1948 notes toward a collation of Vanity Fair, there are five areas of concern for parts-issued books: front wrappers, back wrappers, inserted advertisements, plates, and text.[5] For Vanity Fair, by far the greatest interest to date has been lavished on the first three—the parts the author had the least do do with. Booksellers continue to identify their copies of Vanity Fair by reference to readings on the wrappers and by one or two famous "points" in the text which are not in fact points, one of the most often used "points" remaining unchanged throughout all printings of the first edition.[6] But these five concerns are merely the discrete parts of the product. Taken together they are the corporate results of the activities of publishing, printing, binding, and marketing, each of which affects the five-part product. In addition to the books themselves, we can bring to bear information from the publisher's records, the author's letters relative to the production, and our knowledge of how books were made in the midnineteenth century as well. Synthesizing all the evidence makes it possible to provide a satisfactory guide to the effects production history had on the novel, the specific result of production represented by a given copy of the book, and the significance the vicissitudes of production have for the student of the text and for the book collector.

Most traditional collectors of Vanity Fair probably think much of this investigation unnecessary. One recently assured me that a useful bibliography is one that identifies the printings in a simple straightforward way for book collectors. But identifying the printing or state represented by any given copy of Vanity Fair is seldom possible. It is often possible to identify the printing or state of each sheet or gathering within a given copy of the book, but most copies of Vanity Fair as wholes represent hybrids or mixtures of sheets from different printings—as a natural result of the methods of manufacturing and marketing the book.[7] When each monthly part was published, a certain number of

copies of the part were printed from type. As each stack of printed sheets dwindled in the bindery, it was replenished by reprinting the depleted numbers. The result was that some parts were reprinted more often than others (see Chart I). The book was available in parts for years after it had also become available in book-form, and the book-form itself was bound in small lots ordered as needed for distribution; hence sheets from one printing can appear indiscriminately mixed with sheets from other printings in any given book—regardless of its present form, whether parts or volume. If a particular copy of the book has an early title-page and prefatory material the rest of the book may yet consist of sheets printed late or a mixture of early and late. Even if parts-issue had ceased once the book as a whole became available, one need only be reminded that eighteen months elapsed between the printing of part one and the printing of the title-page, and that, according to the publisher's records, during those eighteen months parts 1 and 7-13 were each reprinted once.[8]

Whereas I have been able to identify the order in which readings were introduced to the text and have given the readings in that order in the appended table, they may appear in confusing disorder in any given copy of Vanity Fair. Thus, in using the variants lists as a means of identifying a given book, each gathering must be identified separately. Furthermore, the Vanity Fair owner must be warned that the difference between parts and book-form issues was created by the bindery, not the press. In other words, the mere fact that a copy was issued in parts is no guarantee that the text is an early printing, nor does the fact that a copy is in book-form mean that it is composed of later printed sheets.

But enough of complexities. Following the completion of the parts issue on 1 July 1848 and during the succeeding fifteen years, Bradbury and Evans issued the first edition of Vanity Fair continuously in parts and volume forms. Each monthly part was printed at least six times, twelve parts were printed seven times, and two parts were printed eight times—prepared according to the schedule in Chart I. The novel was stitched into parts and bound in book-form for distribution according to the schedule in Chart II.

I. The first printing of each number was run off from standing (moveable) type. Positive identification of printings from type can be

made by measuring the length of any printed line extending from margin to margin. If the measurement equals or exceeds 3 and frac1316ths inches (9.7 cm), the page was printed from standing type; copies printed from stereotyped plates measure 3 and ¾ths inches (9.6 cm) or less.[9]

States of the first printing were created when certain changes were effected in the standing type before stereotyped plates were cast. Though it is not clear whether these changes are stop-press corrections producing two states of the first printing or if they represent second printings from type, the former seems to me the more likely in view of certain evidence to follow concerning stereotyping. The changes in the standing type are listed in columns one through two of Chart III. In one instance, that of signature X in part number 10, three "states" of the "first printing" are distinguishable (see Chart III, 309.3 and 309.11).

In the publisher's account books, charges for stereotyping were entered at the same time as those for initial composition and corrections, and it is conceivable, perhaps even probable, that the stereotypes were cast immediately after the first printing from standing type. If that were the case, one would expect to find relatively commonly copies of Vanity Fair in parts with numbers 1 and 7-13 printed from stereotypes since these numbers were reprinted months before re-issue in book-form (see Chart I). In fact, however, both the normal complexities of original production and the rapacity of unscrupulous bookmen have produced copies of Vanity Fair in parts with sheets printed from stereotypes. The worst instance I know of the latter is the Heineman copy in the Pierpont Morgan Library which is expertly repaired so that only careful examination reveals that seven of the gatherings were made up by combining pages from at least two different copies—one printed from type and one from stereotyped plates—and that three additional whole gatherings printed from stereotypes were probably supplied surreptitiously: a classic case of collecting wrappers and advertisements rather than texts. However, not all "mixed copies" are aberrations; the publisher's records show that Vanity Fair was always available in parts so that as the years went by new-sold parts would contain late-printed sheets. Similarly, copies in volume form sometimes contain early, maybe first-printing, sheets either as a normal result of binding schedules or because some purchaser of early parts had his copy rebound in volume form. Nevertheless, certain copies (not all in parts) composed mostly of sheets printed from type have been noted with numbers 1 and 7-11 both printed from

stereotyped plates and sharing all the readings characteristic of the last "state" of the printing from type.[10] Not only does this pattern correspond with the publisher's records, but it demonstrates that the major alterations in Vanity Fair, for these numbers at least, were effected after stereotyping. It is likely that similar copies of the book in parts also exist with numbers 12-13 printed from stereotypes but with readings corresponding to the final state of the first printing.

It is misleading to speak of a second printing of Vanity Fair, for not all parts reached a second printing at the same time. There was, nevertheless, a short time in which the publisher was producing books with a characteristic combination of first-printing sheets and second-printing sheets which it is tempting to refer to as a second stage of production.[11]

II. A. The second printing of numbers 1 and 7-13, apparently issued in combination with first-printing sheets of the rest of the book, is printed from stereotyped plates but shares the readings of the final state of the printing from type (see column three in Chart III). Numbers printed from stereotypes but with readings agreeing with the printing from type can be distinguished from type-printed numbers by the measurement described above (i.e. type-printed pages measure 3 and frac1316ths inches or more horizontally from margin to margin while stereotype-printed pages measure 3 and ¾ths inches or less). This second printing of numbers 1 and 7-13 can sometimes be distinguished from other, later stereotype printings by the readings in column three of Chart III.

Though the publisher's records give no clear indication of when the majority of substantive variants were introduced,[12] the existence of numbers 1 and 7-11 printed from stereotypes with unaltered readings proves conclusively that changes in those numbers post-date the stereotyping and suggests a similar pattern for the rest of the book. In addition, the evidence of machine collation, though inconclusive, seems to suggest

that in numbers 2, 3, and 5 a few changes not actually noted in any copy of the book printed from type may in fact pre-date stereotyping.[13] It is possible that these changes were made in standing type which was not then used again before stereotypes were cast and that the further changes made after stereotyping were effected before the plates were used the first time. Hence, there may never have been copies of the book with the earlier changes only. The importance of the machine-collation evidence is that it suggests a priority of changes and supports the notion that interest in changing the text was continuous with Thackeray, not merely a one-time or haphazard concern. The changes that appear to pre-date stereotyping are all corrections or alterations of some magnitude and are probably authorial. (See asterisked entries in Chart III.)

II. B. The second printing of parts 2-6 and 14-20 was made from stereotyped plates incorporating considerable alterations and seems to have occurred at about the time of the third printing of parts 1 and 7-13. See Chart I for the rapidity of reprinting during the eight months following the serial's conclusion (July 1848 through February 1849). This second printing of parts 2-6 and 14-20 can be distinguished from the first printing by the measurement indicated above (i.e. the first printing is from type, the second from stereotypes) and by the readings listed in Chart III, column three.

III. The third printing of parts 1 and 7-13 was made for the most part from corrected stereotyped plates. However, the "correction" of signature Y entailed the removal of a woodcut dropped into the text. The result was that the text from that point to the end of the chapter had to be moved up 9.7 centimeters. Rather than trying to cut and move stereotyped plates, the printers reset the whole of pages 366-340. Thus,

the first pages of signature Z are affected in the same way. At least one printing, probably the third, was run off from corrected plates except for pages 336-340 for which type was imposed along with plates. The readings characteristic of this printing are recorded in Chart III, column four.

IV. The fourth and later printings by Bradbury and Evans are not distinguishable from one another and are only occasionally identifiable at all. The publisher's records show at least six printings for each part, seven printings for twelve parts and eight printings for two parts. Signatures Y and Z are again significant, for the pages printed from type in the third printing were then stereotyped for subsequent printings and though there are no distinguishing readings, the type-page measurements indicate stereotyping.

The title-page, printed with parts 19-20, is the only part that can be distinguished in more than four printings. According to the publisher's records, the final part (containing numbers 19-20, the preface, and title-pages) was printed seven times by Bradbury and Evans before Smith, Elder, and Company acquired the stereotypes and back stock in 1865. The Bradbury and Evans printings occurred three times in 1848, once each in 1849 and 1855, and twice in 1864. Unlike the text, the title-page seems to have been reset for each printing, and six different settings have been identified. Though it is impossible to determine the precise order in which the title pages were prepared, it is beyond question that the first one given in Chart VI is the first printing. It seems likely that the two printings dated 1849 precede some if not all the others dated 1848 because the books they belong to have readings pre-dating readings in copies with the 1848 date. However, as I have taken pains to show, the state of one sheet cannot be used as evidence for the state of other sheets in the same book because mixtures of early and late sheets were a normal product of the bindery. Since each of the title pages was entirely reset, the apparent carry-over of a characteristic from one to the next would be fortuitous, not indicative of order.

When Smith, Elder, and Company acquired the copyrights and the back stock of stereotypes and printed sheets from Thackeray's other publishers in July, 1865, they acquired from Bradbury and Evans 5,001 copies of "various numbers" of Vanity Fair in parts and two copies bound up. Over the next eight months they printed enough "various numbers" to bring the total to 17,392 which were made into 865 copies of the book bound in cloth with 92 numbers left over. Though I have not yet encountered a copy dated 1865, a charge for new titles was entered

in the account books for November of that year. A copy dated 1866 is at the Simon Fraser University Library, Burnaby, B.C., Canada.[14] The records also show an August 1868 printing of 250 copies, again with a new title page dated 1868; there is a copy (not personally examined) in the British Library. It is curious that Smith, Elder reprinted the first edition of Vanity Fair in 1868, for that is the year they brought out an entirely new edition of the book as part of a collected edition of Thackeray's works.

What does it all mean? For the book-collector, I hope the historical record reveals the true nature of the copies of Vanity Fair he owns, and that it establishes a range of representative copies he may seek to add to his collection. For the historian of printing, I hope the record with its combination of evidence from publisher's records and the books themselves confirms his sense of the complexity of the economic, technological, and artistic confluence that commercial book publishing was. For the textual editor the implications are patently clear. For the literary critic and student of Thackeray's works, I hope the record of variants provides a basis for further understanding Thackeray's attitude towards his text and supplies evidence leading to a clearer understanding of his concerns in the novel. Some changes seem to have relatively obvious motives: the elimination of Dobbin's lisp (all but one instance) at 50.18 and 105.18-19 is clearly intended to improve the image of the book's only gentleman. And the deleted reference to life insurance at 579.7-8 is the mere correction of an error, since at 501.3-4 Rawdon was unable to qualify for life insurance at all. But other changes suggest more subtle motives. Why, for example, did Thackeray find it inappropriate, at 50.11up, to call Jos a "fat bacchanalian"? And why, at 75.29, does he change Lady Muttondown to Lady Southdown and then decide, at 500.35, that it is also inappropriate to refer to Lady Southdown as Lady Macbeth? Why, at 40.10-11, is the sentence "And what can Alderman Dobbin have amongst fourteen?" (so reminiscent of St. John's account of the feeding of the five thousand) deleted? And why is Mrs. Blenkinsop, at 55.14-15, no longer allowed to opine to Pinner, apropos of Becky, that governesses are "neither one thing nor t'other." If nothing else, the alterations focus attention on passages that were, somehow, not right and for which the new readings are, somehow, better. But this article is not the place for critical speculation or evaluation; I only hope

that this presentation of the evidence of revision will stimulate critical assessments providing a clearer understanding of Thackeray's achievement in Vanity Fair.[15]

Chart I—Vanity Fair Printing Schedule

Basically there were six printings of Vanity Fair: The original printing, 1 January 1847 through 1 July 1848; a second comprehensive printing in July, 1848; a third in September, 1848; a fourth in February, 1849; the fifth was scattered out over the years 1854 to 1857; and the sixth was scattered through 1861 to 1864. In addition numbers 1, 3, and 7-13 were printed an extra time in 1847-48, and numbers 2-4, 7, and 19-20 were printed an extra time in 1864-65. Thus, numbers 3 and 7 were printed eight times; numbers 1, 2, 4, 8-13 and 19-20 were printed seven times; the rest only six.

                                           

Part	1st Printing	2nd Printing	3rd Printing	4th Printing	5th Printing	6th Printing	7th Printing	8th Printing
#	Mon/Yr: Size	Mon/Yr: Size	Mon/Yr: Size	Mon/Yr: Size	Mon/Yr: Size	Mon/Yr: Size	Mon/Yr: Size	Mon/Yr: Size
1	12/46: 5000	Same: 2000	7/48: 1250	9/48: 1500	2/49: 2000	11/54: 500	5/61: 500	None
2	1/47: 6000	7/48: 1000	9/48: 1500	2/49: 2000	2/55: 500	12/63: 250	6/65: 250	None
3	2/47: 5000	6/48: 500	7/48: 1000	9/48: 1500	2/49: 2000	2/55: 500	12/63: 250	6/64: 250
4	3/47: 5000	7/48: 1250	9/48: 1500	2/49: 2000	2/55: 500	12/63: 250	6/64: 250	None
5	4/47: 5000	7/48: 1250	9/48: 1500	2/49: 2000	9/56: 500	2/64: 250	None	None
6	5/47: 5000	7/48: 1000	9/48: 1500	2/49: 2000	11/54: 500	5/61: 500	None	None
7	6/47: 4000	1/48: 1000	7/48: 1000	9/48: 1500	2/49: 2000	2/55: 500	12/63: 250	6/65: 250
8	7/47: 4000	1/48: 1000	7/48: 1000	9/48: 1500	2/49: 2000	2/56: 500	1/64: 500	None
9	8/47: 4000	2/48: 1000	7/48: 1000	9/48: 1500	2/49: 2000	2/57: 500	4/64: 500	None
10	9/47: 4000	2/48: 1000	7/48: 1000	9/48: 1500	2/49: 2000	2/57: 500	4/64: 500	None
11	10/47: 4000	3/48: 1000	7/48: 1000	9/48: 1500	2/49: 2000	2/57: 500	4/64: 500	None
12	11/47: 4500	3/48: 500	7/48: 1000	9/48: 1500	2/49: 2000	2/57: 500	4/64: 500	None
13	12/47: 4500	3/48: 500	7/48: 1000	9/48: 1500	2/49: 2000	2/57: 500	4/64: 500	None
14	1/48: 5000	7/48: 1000	9/48: 1500	2/49: 2000	2/57: 500	4/64: 500	None	None
15	2/48: 5000	7/48: 1000	9/48: 1500	2/49: 2000	2/57: 500	4/64: 500	None	None
16	3/48: 5000	7/48: 1000	9/48: 1500	2/49: 2000	8/56: 500	2/64: 250	None	None
17	4/48: 5000	7/48: 1000	9/48: 1500	2/49: 2000	8/56: 500	2/64: 250	None	None
18	5/48: 5000	7/48: 1000	9/48: 1500	2/49: 2000	8/56: 500	2/64: 250	None	None
19
20	6/48: 5000	7/48: 1000	9/48: 1500	2/49: 2000	2/55: 500	1/64: 500	4/64: 500	None

TOTALS per number: 1 = 12750; 2 = 11500; 3 = 11000; 4 = 10750; 5 through 18 = 10500 each; 19/20 = 11000

Chart II—Vanity Fair Schedule of Disbursement

There are various ways to read the publisher's records to gain an idea of the rate at which books left the publisher for the public—none produce the same result. All the records account for the book by parts so that a single bound book is treated as 20 parts. There are records of payments made for stitching copies (no telling if for parts or book issue), but apparently some copies were sold unstitched. There are half-yearly summary reports of numbers sold (no telling whether as parts or book-form), but these figures were determined, apparently, by subtracting the numbers currently in hand, presented, given to the author, etc., from the number in hand at the beginning of the six month period plus any new printings; hence, the number "sold" seldom if ever equals a number divisible by 20 parts, which if that were the case might indicate all sales were of whole books. So it is not clear whether the number recorded as sold accurately reflects the sale of partial runs in parts or simply approximates the numbers sold in book-form. Finally there are six-month records of the form of copies remaining in hand: so many parts in quires, so many stitched, so many in cloth binding, and so many "P.O." (a label I do not understand identifying figures which sometimes are divisible by 20, sometimes not and ranging from 3 to 242).

The following chart provides half-yearly summaries of the records of disbursement and analysis of stock in hand in parts in order to demonstrate the ways any bound copy of the book might combine sheets from separate printings as a normal product of the manufacturing process—making it, incidentally, solecistic to speak of the "impression" or "state" of a given copy of Vanity Fair as a whole. The usually discrete production stages of book publishing (printing, binding, selling) intermingle in serial publication to produce bewildering combinations.

                             

Ending Date of Half-Year Reporting Period:	June 47	Dec 47	June 48 Dec 48}	June 49	Dec 49	June 50	Dec 50	June 51	Dec 51	June 52	Dec 52
Number of Parts
In Hand at Beginning:	----	10016	10868	4245	30304	25425	20206	19258	15605	14418	11953
Printed During Period:	37000	25000	92250	40000	----	----	----	----	----	----	----
Total Parts Available:	37000	35016	103118	44245	30304	25425	20206	19258	15605	14418	11953
Sold:	25717	22972	96961	13941	4879	5219	948	3653	1187	2465	2411
Otherwise Disposed of:	1267	1176	1912	----	----	----	----	----	----	----	40
Total Parts Disbursed:	26984	24148	98873	13941	4879	5219	948	3653	1187	2465	2451
Number of Parts
In Hand at End: Quired:	6694	8450	3145	28289	24187	19245	17897	15067	12729	11165	8506
Stitched:	2722	1718	558	460	231	331	411	251	426	198	226
Bound:	----	----	300	1420	900	580	900	200	1220	540	660
P.O.:	----	----	242	135	107	50	50	87	43	50	46
Other:	600	700	----	----	----	----	----	----	----	----	64
Total Parts Remaining:	10016	10868	4245	30304	25425	20206	19258	15605	14418	11953	9502

                             

Ending Date of Half-Year Reporting Period:	June 53	Dec 53	June 54	Dec 54	June 55	Dec 55	June 56	Dec 56	June 57	Dec 57	June 58	Dec 58
Number of Parts
In Hand at Beginning:	9502	7338	6536	4470	4753	6662	6069	5362	6785	8415	7956	7310
Printed During Period:	----	----	----	1000	3000	----	500	2000	3500	----	----	----
Total Parts Available:	9502	7338	6536	5470	7753	6662	6569	7362	10285	8415	7956	7310
Sold:	2144	802	2066	717	1091	573	1207	577	1870	459	646	485
Otherwise Disposed of:	20	----	----	----	----	20	----	----	----	----	----	----
Total Parts Disbursed:	2164	802	2066	717	1091	593	1207	577	1870	459	646	485
Number of Parts
In Hand at End: Quired:	6629	6022	2762	3788	5675	5583	4896	6284	8125	7554	6696	5562
Stitched:	276	191	214	188	177	66	102	117	170	80	74	58
Bound:	280	160	1340	620	500	320	240	200	60	260	440	560
P.O.:	89	99	90	93	90	60	64	84	----	42	40	65
Other:	64	64	64	64	220	40	60	100	60	20	60	580
Total Parts Remaining:	7338	6536	4470	4753	6662	6069	5362	6785	8415	7956	7310	6825

                             

Ending Date of Half-Year Reporting Period:	June 59	Dec 59	June 60	Dec 60	June 61	Dec 61	June 62	Dec 62	June 63	Dec 63
Number of Parts
In Hand at Beginning:	6825	5687	5228	4585	3724	3991	3743	3646	3429	3286
Printed During Period:	----	----	----	----	1000	----	----	----	----	1000
Total Parts Available:	6825	5687	5228	4585	4724	3991	3743	3646	3429	4286
Sold:	1098	459	643	861	733	248	97	217	143	602
Otherwise Disposed of:	40	----	----	----	----	----	----	----	----	20
Total Parts Disbursed:	1138	459	643	861	733	248	97	217	143	622
Number of Parts
In Hand at End: Quired:	5437	4776	4166	3458	3698	3498	3430	3110	3058	3356
Stitched:	60	182	54	71	33	27	65	64	84	63
Bound:	60	180	220	80	140	100	40	180	80	180
P.O.:	70	50	65	55	60	58	91	55	44	65
Other:	60	40	80	60	60	60	20	20	20	----
Total Parts Remaining:	5687	5228	4585	3724	3991	3743	3646	3429	3286	3664

                             

Ending Date of Half-Year Reporting Period:	June 64	Dec 64	June 65	30 June 65
Number of Parts
In Hand at Beginning:	3664	5833	5251	5005
Printed During Period:	6500	----	500	----
Total Parts Available:	10164	5833	5751	5005
Sold:	4331	582	746	5005
Otherwise disposed of:	----	----	----	----
Total Parts Disbursed:	4331	582	746	5005
Number of Parts
In Hand at End: Quired:	5389	4942	4965	----
Stitched:	----	42	----	----
Bound:	420	220	40	----
P.O.:	24	47	----	----
Other:	----	----	----	----
Total Parts Remaining:	5833	5251	5005	----

The Smith, Elder Publishers account books record 5,001 parts including 2 bound copies received from Bradbury and Evans in June 1865. In 1865 Smith, Elder printed 7,391 more parts and in 1866 they printed 5,000 more, yielding 17,392 parts available. These were bound into 865 bound copies leaving 92 odd parts. In 1868 they printed 250 more copies of the whole book. The Smith, Elder accounts of the first edition of Vanity Fair were closed out in 1883.

Chart III—Variants Within the First Edition of Vanity Fair

This chart provides a means of identifying the printing and sometimes the state within a printing of individual sheets in Vanity Fair. The variants are grouped under part numbers and, within parts, under signatures. The first two columns represent the first and second states of the first printing of each sheet (a third state of signatures X and FF is distinguishable as indicated in notes under these signatures in the chart). Columns three and four represent the second and third printings of each sheet. A fourth printing is distinguishable for signatures C, L, R, Y, Z, and QQ (as indicated in notes under each of these signatures in the chart).

The second printing is always distinguishable from the first, even when no variants occur (as in signature B), because it was printed from stereotyped plates. When the illustration in signature Y (336.2-3) was removed, text was reset and moved up to fill the gap—moving in the process some text from Z to Y, hence the jagged delimiter between these signatures in the chart. The third and fourth printings of signatures Y and Z are distinguishable even though there are no variants because pages 336-340, newly reset for the third printing, were printed from type whereas in the fourth printing plates were used.

When a reading remains unchanged from one state or printing to the next, it is represented in the next column by a dash. When for a given signature a printing is identifiable only by a change from type to stereotype as a means of printing, the column will contain no changed readings but will be represented by dashes. If the state or printing represented by a column is not distinguishable in any way for a given signature, the column is left blank. For example, for signature B, only one state of the first printing can be distinguished, hence column two is blank; on the other hand, though no variants were introduced in the second printing, made from stereotyped plates, the second-printing column is represented by dashes.

Anyone discovering a copy of a signature in the book which contains changes in a pattern not fully represented by any one column (or its attending notes) will have discovered a hitherto unknown printing or state for that signature.

Entries marked by an asterisk (*) record changes which machine collation suggests may have been made in the type before stereotyping; however, no copy of the book printed from type with altered readings has been seen confirming the priority of asterisked readings (see text footnote 13).

                                                                 

	First Print. (from type)	Printings from Stereo Plates
Page.Line	First State	Second State	Second Print.	Third Print.
Part #1
Sig. B
1.[Title]	[Rustic Type]		----------	[Roman Type]
1.[Sub-Title]	[Roman Type]		----------	[Gothic Type]
8.17	only fifty		----------	five and fifty
9.42	had		----------	with
10.11	and her father		----------	her father,
10.16	pupil,		----------	pupil;
10.17	seen,		----------	seen;
10.17	free;		----------	free,
13.[run-title]	WITHOUT A		----------	WITHOUTA
13.24	that she		----------	as she
13.1up	Horse		----------	Life
15.14	harm trying."		----------	harm in trying."
Sig. C
18.2up	measure;	----------	----------	----------
19.23	Stycorax	----------	----------	Sicorax
24.23	"and	----------	·'and	----------
24.6up	26,	----------	----------	96,
24.3up	roguish;	----------	----------	roguish,
24.3up	Amelia,	----------	----------	Amelia;
26.10	dining-room,	----------	----------	dining-room,--
26.12	society,	----------	----------	society;--
26.21	Christmas;	----------	----------	Christmas:
26.22	remembered	----------	----------	he remembered
27.35	great sigh.	great / sigh.	----------	----------
28.8	howdah	----------	----------	seat
28.1up	[printer's widow]	[end of ¶]	----------	----------
29	[19 lines]	[20 lines]	----------	----------
30.5	hearth	----------	----------	roof
31.2up	Joseph:	----------	----------	----------

                                                       

	First Print. (from type)	Printings from Stereo Plates
Page.Line	First State	Second State	Second Print.	Third Print.
Part #2
Sig. D
34.1up	other.		----------	other
40.10-11	face? And what can Alderman Dobbin have amongst fourteen?"		face?	----------
43.1up	gaberdine,		gabardine,	----------
45.4	Devonshire		D-----	----------
45.8	Cupids,		Cupids	----------
45.14	Trent emille		Trent emille	----------
45.19	Devonshire!"		D-----!	----------
Sig. E
50.18	foolth!"		fools!"
50.11up	this fat bacchanalian		Mr. Jos Sedley
52.34	Glauber		Gollop
53.19	Glauber		Gollop
54.14	ran:--		ran--
55.14	Pinner, they're neither one thing nor t'other.		Pinner, she remarked to the maid.
55.3up	James."		James.'
*58.1-2	Crawley's son, the		Crawley, son of the
*58.42	Shiverly		Gaunt
*60.2	I be		I'm
*60.3	baynt.		aynt.
*60.17	Crawley,		Tinker,
*61.31	orphan,		baronet,
*62.9	noise		nose
63.12	hath		has
63.14	What		Where

                                                                     

Part #3
Sig. F
*66.17	Mudbury		Leakington
*66.36	Leakington		Mudbury
*66.45	Leakington		Mudbury
74.10	about		about,
75.29	Muttondown's		Southdown's
77.25	fortune equally		inheritance
Sig. G
83.11	as Cornet and		in the Life
	Lieutenant Crawley.		Guards Green.
*88.6	Crawley		Crawley's
*92.4	Petty		Rawdon
94.30	Rincer,		Bowls,
Part #4
Sig. H
97.24	gift		knack
99.6up	it's		it is
99.6up	There's		There is
101.1up	that		that
101.1up	to Heaven		Te Deum
104.40	correspondence		correspondent
105.18	alwayth		always
105.18	nonthenth		nonsense
105.18	thcandal		scandal
105.19	Othborne		Osborne
105.19	ith		is
108.30	carpenter		weaver
109.35	Maria:"		Jane:"
110.18	Maria."		Jane."
Sig. I
113.9	Hulker		Hulker's
116.32	Fisher		Firkin
122.2	chicken that day.		chicken.
128.6	vort.		vor't.

                                       

	First Print. (from type)	Printings from Stereo Plates
Page.Line	First State	Second State	Second Print.	Third Print.
Part #5
Sig. K
129.1up	siad	said	----------
144.25	use	----------	used
Sig.L
145.sig	L [centered]		----------	----------
147.sig	L2		2	----------
149.23	Young Cornet and Lieutenant		And young Lieutenant	----------
151.page	[Chapter heading has normal top margin]		----------	----------
152.8-9	this worthy		the worthy	----------
152.33	honest, kind		trembling	----------
152.36	kind		sad	----------
153.3	good mother		old mother	----------
153.25	good old		old	----------
154.1	good kindly		humiliated	----------
156.5	done;		----------	done,
*156.38	Miss A.		Miss Ann	----------
*156.1up	improved		uproused	----------

           

Part #6
Sig. M
165.22	all the particulars she could		sundry strange particulars	----------
167.13	know		know,	----------
173.14	ready;		ready	ready; [restored in heavier type]
175.1up	three		and three	----------

                                                     

Sig. N
180.5	Mahogany Charmer		mahogany charmer
*188.26	Osborne		Sedley
*188.32	Osborne		Sedley
191.12	marriage. And		marriage; and
191.15	here		there
Part #7
Sig. O
202.35	stately	----------	----------	state
203.17	commission:	----------	----------	commissions:
206.20	young, favourite	young favourite,	----------	----------
Sig. P
223.15up	are		ar
Part #8
Sig. Q
227.16	mother		----------	parents
232.15	friends		----------	friend
236.25	Flanagan's		----------	Flanahan's
236.27	Major-General		----------	Mejor-General
Sig. R
242.11	This	----------	----------	The
244.3up	soldier	----------	----------	orderly
247.35	of	----------	----------	with
247.37	company	----------	----------	society
248.4	"Near [normal quote]	----------	----------	"Near [first quote lower]
252.1up	get	gain	----------	----------
254.9	shall	shawl	----------	----------

                                               

	First Print. (from type)	Printings from Stereo Plates
Page.Line	First State	Second State	Second Print.	Third Print.
Part #9
Sig. S
259.19	below		----------	above
266.9up	Allée-Verté!		----------	Allée-Verte!
Sig. T
280.32	in her		----------	in their
280.4up	Crawley had		Crawley's horses had	----------
Part #10
Sig. U
289.20	be Captain and Lieutenant-Colonel		----------	be Lieutenant-Colonel
293.11	given up all		----------	but faint
293.19	report says was once		----------	was secretly
294.4up	the Grand Duchess		----------	the Duchess
295.7	[Randall reports the word worldty on this line; I have not seen it in any copy examined.]
296.4up	worldty		----------	worldly
Sig. X
305.5	buzz.	----------	----------	'buzz.'
309.3	Osborne	Sedley	----------	----------
309.11	knicknacks,	----------	knick-knacks,	----------
310.13up	of—	----------	----------	of the
312.1	fight	----------	----------	fights
313.1	chance	----------	a chance	----------

                       

Part #11
Sig. Y
328.29-34	[¶] After a stay at Brussels, where they lived in good fashion, with carriages and horses, and giving pretty little dinners at their hotel, the Colonel and his lady again quitted that city, from which slander pursued them as it did from Paris, and where it is said they left a vast amount of debt behind them. Indeed, this is the way in which gentlemen who live upon nothing a-year, make both ends meet. [¶] From Brussels, Colonel		----------	[¶] And so, Colonel
331.3up	salon		----------	salons
333.28	St.		----------	Ste.
333.37	Susan's		----------	Jane's
334.13	Mr.		Mr	----------
334.14	orphan;		orphan,	----------
336.1-end of sig.	[original typesetting]		[plated]	[reset and printed from type]
336.1	silk;		----------	silk:
336.2-3	[woodcut illustration of Lord Steyne]		----------	[omitted]
336.18	too; he's		----------	too: "he's

                                         

	First Print. (from type)	Printings from Stereo Plates
Page.Line	First State	Second State	Second Print.	Third Print.
Sig. Z
337-340	[original typesetting]		----------	336-340 [reset and printed from type]
337.10	"Yes,		----------	336.30 "Yes,"
337.10	I		----------	336.30 "I
338.2	loud;		----------	337.22 loud:
338.15	Minor		----------	337.35 minor
338.19	Father		----------	337.39 father
338.31	patronizingly		----------	338.2 patronisingly
338.16up	fragrance,		----------	338.5 fragrance
338.45	splendor		----------	338.16 splendour
338.46	pink,		----------	338.17 pink
339.8	Minor		----------	338.28 minor
339.36	literary, and that		----------	339.7 literary and that,
339.41	to night		----------	339.12 to-night
340.15	said,		----------	339.34 said
340.29	Minor		----------	339.48 minor
342.3	horse		----------	horse,
342.3	rode		----------	rode,
350.8up	IOU		----------	IOU's

             

Part #12
Sig. AA
363.23	Mr. Glauber, the surgeon,		The family surgeon
Sig. BB
371.11up	in		n
373.3	upon		that
376.17	her. The		her: &c: the

                                             

Part #13
Sig. CC
385.19	away		and	----------
386.14	and that if		and, if	----------
391.25	Dobbins		Dobbin	----------
391.30	"dearest William"		dearest William	----------
394.8	Briggs'		Briggs	----------
395.12-11up	to to his		----------	to his
399.1up	"It 's		"It's	----------
Sig. DD
403.31	Cabine	----------	----------	Cabinet
405.18	sneaked	----------	bolted	----------
405.6-5up	[¶] Hunters arrived, from time to time, in charge of boys of the boy Jack species—the young	----------	[¶] Many young	----------
405.5up	hacks	----------	hacks,	----------
406.13	Will	----------	Tom	----------
409.7up	submission, and Dalilah	----------	submission. Dalilah	----------
414.8	restlessly, still	----------	restlessly still,	----------
414.30	dinners,	dinners:	----------	----------
Part #14
Sig. EE
[No alterations]
Sig. FF
434.1up	tired of	tired o	tired of [restored]

       

Part #14
Sig. GG
458.14-13up	Agamemnon		AGAMEMNON
459.1	an d [#]		an d a

                                                           

	First Print. (from type)	Printings from Stereo Plates
Page.Line	First State	Second State	Second Print.	Third Print.
Sig. HH
[No alterations]
Part #16
Sig. II
481.1up	read		made	----------
482.22	gentleman,—		gentleman,	----------
482.22	word,		word,--	----------
482.36	tattoo		tune	----------
483.17up	Jane		Jane,	----------
484.4-3up	the the suburbs		----------	the suburbs
Sig. KK
497.4	Behanged! these	----------	Behanged to these
499.10	a--fool	----------	a d—fool
500.35	Macbeth	----------	Southdown
502.3up	in his pompous manner,	----------	in pompous orations
503.9up	leaving	----------	he left
505.7	cost, as to his mother, saying he	----------	cost, saying that he
505.8	to her.	----------	to his mother.
510.1	thram	thrum	----------
510.19	miserable	----------	faded
Part #17
Sig. LL
514.2	"it		(it
514.3	window."		window.)
514.5up	wages. Sisters		wages,—sisters
517.27	youngster		youngsters
521.24	that perennially		which perennially
523.9	Ten		Long

                                                             

Sig. MM
536.3	an harsh		a harsh	----------
536.27	cot; Miss		cot as Miss	----------
536.41	time;		time	time,
543.7	dandy		dandies	----------
Part #18
Sig. NN
550.8up	was affected		was pleased
555.3up	Mr.		Mrs.
560.1up	the German		German
Sig. OO
561.1	Palatinate: in		Palatinate. In
571.6up	the Elephant,		the Pariser Hof,
Part #19-20
Sig. PP
579.7-8	certain debts and the insurance of his life;		certain outstanding debts and liabilities,
579.17	make		take
580.5up	Hornby		Horner
585.3	à vipère		a vipère
587.5-4up	and at his lordship's side was		and near his lordship was
588.18up	Fenouil,		Fiche,
588.1oup	Fenouil,—		Fiche,—
589.1	Fenouil's		Fiche's
589.21	in the cushions		on the cushions
589.29	Fenouil		Fiche
589.33	Fenouil		Fiche
589.35	Finelli		Ficci
590.2	Grey		White
590.20	Fenouil,		Fiche,
592.1	sonorous		sournois
592.3up	94,		90,

                                     

	First Print. (from type)	Printings from Stereo Plates
Page.Line	First State	Second State	Second Print.	Third Print.
Sig. QQ
593.1	92,		----------	92
593.7	Fitz		Fritz	----------
598.1-2	such as		like	----------
598.5up	acceptances,		acceptance,	----------
601.7up	seemed to be		also was	----------
601.6up	might have		certainly	----------
602.4	William, he was		William was	----------
602.29	look,		look;	----------
602.29a	and		and,	----------
602.30	place;		place,	----------
603.11up	pure,		pure,—	----------
604.8	Jos eagerly		Mr. Sedley	----------
605.12up	hearing—Tufto,		hearing the tale. Tufto,	----------
605.7up	Mrs. Sedley		Mr. Sedley	----------
607.10	even		----------	----------
607.12	Major		----------	----------

               

Sig. RR
617.21up	Captain		and Captain
617.20up	day at		day on
617.9up	him		him
621.15	scenes;		scenes,—
623.11up	payment: invited		payment. They invited
623.10up	examination: declared		examination, they declared
624.imprint	[present]		[omitted]

Chart IV—Six Title-pages for Vanity Fair

Though the characteristics of the first title-page listed below are definitely those of the first printing, the order of the subsequent printings is conjectural. Smith, Elder and Co. reissued the first edition with two relatively accurate title-page dates: 1866 and 1868. (See discussion, p. 126.)

             

Line	First T-p[1]	Second(?) T-p[2]	Third(?) T-p[3]	Fourth(?) T-p[4]	Fifth(?) T-p[5]	Sixth(?) T-p[6]
2	Novel	Novel	Aovel	Aovel	Novel	Aovel
5	[3¼ inches]	[3frac116 in.]	[3frac316 in.]	[3frac1116 in.]	[3frac316 in.]	[3frac1316 in.]
5	STEEL AND WOOD					WOOD AND STEEL
7	AND	AND	AND	&	AND	&
7	[3⅜ in.]	[3¼ in.]	[3¼ in.]	[3frac116 in.]	[3frac516 in.]	[3frac316 in.]
8	1848	1849	1849	1848	1848	1848

Notes

Footnotes for Chart IV