I have been in the rare and antiquarian book business for over forty years; my family has been in the rare books business since 1876. Rare books are in my blood.
The Family Robinson Crusoe: or, Journal of a Father Shipwrecked, with His Wife and Children, on an Uninhabited Island
London: M.J. Godwin and Co.…, 1816. Item #06175
"The Swiss Family Robinson"
First Edition in English, Second Issue
In Contemporary Sheep
WYSS, [Johann David]. The Family Robinson Crusoe: or, Journal of a Father Shipwrecked, with His Wife and Children, on an Uninhabited Island. Translated from the German of M. Wiss [by William Godwin]. London: Printed for M.J. Godwin and Co.…, 1814-1816.
First edition in English, second issue, of the "Swiss Family Robinson," the first two volumes consisting of a re-issue of the sheets of Godwin's 1814 edition with a cancel title page dated 1816, separate pagination to the two parts and p. 197 misnumbered 167, along with the first appearance of Wyss' continuation, as announced at the end of the first volume.
Three parts in two twelvemo volumes (6 7/8 x 4 1/8 inches; 175 x 105 mm). xxi1, [1]-144, [1]-202, [1, Editors note regarding continuation], [1, blank] pp; iv, [1]-380 pp. Engraved frontispiece and five engraved plates after H. Corbould, engraved folding map.
Vol I: Short fore-margin tear to C1 (pp. 25/26); small portion of lower blank corner of C11 (pp. 45/46) torn away; tiny piece of fore-margin torn away on D12 (pp. 71/72); Vol. II: Volume I with small worm track from top of front board through top blank of contents leaf with no loss of letters. Short, clean fore-margin tear to E1 (pp. 73/74). The engraved plates are a little stained and foxed, the folding map with two tiny (1/8 inch) holes on old fold. Some sporadic light foxing throughout.
Contemporary sheep, smooth spines ruled and numbered in gilt, red morocco labels lettered in gilt, small circular green morocco labels with volume numbers in gilt. The joints have been expertly and almost invisibly restored, corners a little worn. Volume I with old ink "No 7" on front paste-down; volume II with old ink "No 8" on front paste-down.
Aside from the aforementioned minor flaws, this is the best copy of the first edition, second issue that we have ever seen in over fifty years of dealing in antiquarian books.
The first part of The Family Robinson Crusoe was originally published in Zürich in 1812. It was first issued in a two-volume format by Mary Jane Godwin in 1814. Later that year it was reissued as a single-volume work, with the second title-page cancelled, the page numbers and signatures changed to make them continuous, and other minor rearrangements of setting. The continuation was published in German in 1813, but not translated into English until 1816.
Our copy contains the original sheets of the 1814 first edition with the break in pagination at p. 144 and p. 197 misnumbered 167.
The Swiss Family Robinson (Der Schweizerische Robinson, "The Swiss Robinson") is a novel by Swiss author Johann David Wyss, first published in 1812. It follows a Swiss family emigrating to Australia whose ship veers off course and is wrecked in the East Indies. The ship’s crew perishes, but the family, along with several domestic animals, survives. Reaching shore, they establish a settlement and embark on various adventures before eventually being offered rescue—though some choose to remain on the island.
The novel became the most successful example of the Robinsonade genre, inspired by Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719). Over time, it has been revised and adapted into numerous versions.
Originally written by Johann David Wyss, edited by his son Johann Rudolf Wyss, and illustrated by another son, Johann Emmanuel Wyss, the story was designed as a moral and educational guide for Wyss’s four children. It emphasizes family values, self-sufficiency, and the practical use of nature, reflecting the educational ideals of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Many chapters incorporate Christian moral lessons, including frugality, industry, acceptance, and cooperation.
The novel also serves as an introduction to natural history and physical science, resembling other didactic works of the period, such as Charlotte Turner Smith’s Rural Walks (1795), Rambles Farther (1796), and A Natural History of Birds (1807). However, The Swiss Family Robinson remains primarily an adventure novel, drawing clear inspiration from Robinson Crusoe.
For the sake of storytelling and education, the island in the novel features an improbable collection of flora and fauna, providing the family with abundant resources for survival, learning, and daily life.
Gottlieb, Early Children’s Books, 140. Gumuchian 4907. Liebert, Herman W., “The Swiss Family Robinson: A Bibliographical Note,” Yale University Library Gazette, (July 1947), pp. 10-13. Osborne Collection, p. 318.
Price: $25,000.00