Robinson Crusoe

Robinson Crusoe was first published in April 1719, in London. In the beginning, the story was published as an autobiography, but it was later established that the author was Daniel Defoe. The novel became an instant classic, with four editions printed in the first year of publication. Often called the first English novel, it follows the story of Robinson Crusoe, a man marooned on an island. Crusoe’s adventure-packed story of survival started the genre of realistic fiction and inspired a slew of other survival novels. Over the course of its publication history, Robinson Crusoe has become the second-most translated book in the world.

True first editions of Robinson Crusoe are exceedingly rare and valuable. When the book was first published in April 1719, people read it so often that most copies have since fallen to pieces. The first edition was published by William Taylor at the Ship, a place of publication on Paternoster Row, a street in London home to the city’s publishing trade. The octavo book is bound in crushed red morocco.