5 Reasons Why The Page Number For "Call Me Ishmael" Is Always Different (And How To Find The Real Quote Page)

The quest to find the precise page number for a famous literary quote is one of the most frustrating and common academic dilemmas faced by students and researchers today. While the immediate answer for iconic opening lines like "Call me Ishmael" from Herman Melville’s *Moby-Dick* or "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" from Charles Dickens’ *A Tale of Two Cities* is almost universally Page 1, the moment you look for a quote deeper within the text, the page number you find online will almost certainly be wrong for the physical book you hold in your hands. This article, updated for late 2025, dives into the five critical reasons why book page numbers are never consistent and provides the definitive solution for accurate citation.

The simple truth is that unless you and the person providing the quote are using the exact same edition—down to the publisher, year, and format—the page number will be different. This variability is not a mistake; it's a fundamental reality of book publishing that impacts everything from student essays to serious scholarly work.

The Definitive Page Numbers for the World's Most Iconic Literary Quotes

For some of the most famous quotes in the English language, the page number is a fixed constant, simply because they are the opening words of the book. These are the rare exceptions to the rule of page number variability. Memorizing these can save you a frustrating search.

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• "Call me Ishmael." (Herman Melville, *Moby-Dick*): Page 1 (Chapter 1). This is the opening sentence of the novel.
• "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." (Charles Dickens, *A Tale of Two Cities*): Page 1 (Book the First, Chapter 1). This is the famous opening paragraph.
• "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." (Leo Tolstoy, *Anna Karenina*): Page 1 (Part 1, Chapter 1). This is the famous opening line that introduces the novel.
• "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." (Leo Tolstoy, *Anna Karenina*): Page 1. Note that translation variations can change the exact wording, but the location remains the start of the book.

However, the moment you search for a line like "Ahab's leg was made of whalebone," the page number will be a moving target. Understanding *why* this happens is the key to mastering your literary research.

5 Critical Reasons Why Book Page Numbers Are Never Consistent

The core issue is that every time a book is republished, the text is "typeset" again, leading to a new page count. These five factors are the primary culprits behind page number confusion:

1. Changes in Physical Book Format (Hardcover vs. Paperback)

The most immediate cause of page number variation is the format of the book. A publisher will often release a novel first as a large, high-quality hardcover edition, followed months later by a smaller, cheaper paperback edition.

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• Hardcover Editions: Typically use larger pages, wider margins, and sometimes larger font sizes, resulting in a lower total page count.
• Paperback Editions: Use smaller pages, smaller fonts, and tighter margins to save paper and space, which pushes the same amount of text onto a much higher total number of pages.

This difference means a quote found on page 300 of a hardcover might be on page 450 of the mass-market paperback.

2. Publisher and Typesetting Decisions

Even two different paperback editions from two different publishers (e.g., Penguin Classics vs. Oxford World's Classics) will have different page numbers. Publishers make independent decisions on the following typesetting elements:

• Font Style and Size: A change from Times New Roman to Garamond, or a slight increase in point size, drastically alters how many words fit on a line and how many lines fit on a page.
• Leading and Kerning: The space between lines (leading) and the space between individual letters (kerning) are subtle formatting choices that can shift the entire text block, causing a quote to jump to the next page.
• Margin Size: Wider margins mean less text per page, increasing the overall page count.

3. Digital and E-Book Formatting

Digital editions, such as Kindle, EPUB, and PDF formats, completely eliminate the concept of a fixed page number.

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• Reflowable Text: E-books use "reflowable" text, which adjusts to whatever screen size the reader is using. The "page" changes based on your device, font size settings, and orientation.
• Location Numbers: E-readers compensate by using "Location" or "Locus" numbers, which are unique identifiers for blocks of text, but these do not correspond to print page numbers.

If you are using a digital source, the MLA Handbook suggests omitting the page number entirely or using a chapter or paragraph number if available, as the page number is meaningless.

4. The Addition of New Content in "Definitive" Editions

Classic literature, especially, is constantly being re-edited. A "Definitive Edition," "Annotated Edition," or a new translation can add or change the content, which shifts the entire pagination.

• Introductions and Prefaces: New scholarly editions often include lengthy introductions, editor's notes, or historical context. These pages, usually numbered with Roman numerals (i, ii, iii), push the start of the main text further into the book, shifting the page numbers of every subsequent chapter.
• Footnotes and Annotations: The inclusion of extensive footnotes at the bottom of the page can reduce the space for the main text, increasing the page count.
• New Translations: For international classics like *Anna Karenina*, a new translation can change the length of sentences and paragraphs, completely altering the flow and page count of the entire novel.

5. The Use of a "Definitive" Academic Edition (The Rare Exception)

In rare instances, primarily for highly-cited academic works, publishers will go to great lengths to keep the page numbers consistent across different formats. This is often done to ensure that scholars across the globe can cite the text without confusion. However, for most popular fiction and non-fiction, this is not a priority, and the page numbers are allowed to vary.

How to Find the Correct Page Number for Citation

The only way to guarantee an accurate page number is to cite the specific edition you are using. This is why citation styles like MLA and Chicago require more information than just the author and the page number.

The Solution: Use the ISBN Number

The ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is the unique identifier for a specific edition of a book. If you are citing a quote, you should always include the ISBN of the book you are using in your Works Cited or Bibliography. This tells your reader exactly which edition you are referencing, allowing them to find the quote even if their copy has different page numbers.

The Ultimate Search Strategy:

1. Identify the Quote and the Book: (e.g., "The white whale swam before him as the monomaniac incarnation of all those malicious agencies which some deep men feel eating in them.") - *Moby-Dick*.
2. Identify the Chapter: Use a quick online search for the quote to find the chapter number (e.g., Chapter 41, "Moby Dick"). Chapter numbers are almost always consistent across all editions.
3. Find the Quote in Your Edition: Go to the identified chapter in your physical book and manually scan for the quote.
4. Cite Correctly: In your in-text citation, use the author and the page number from your specific book (e.g., (Melville 215)). In your Works Cited, include the full publication details of your edition.

By focusing on the chapter number as the anchor point, you bypass the frustrating variability of page numbers and ensure your academic work is accurate, regardless of which edition of *Moby-Dick* or *Anna Karenina* you happen to be reading.