# Is "A Girl in Winter" by Philip Larkin a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Girl in Winter by Philip Larkin (Faber & Faber, 1947) is identified by: First edition, Faber and Faber, London, 1947; Bloomfield A3. Census claim CONFIRMED: Faber & Faber, London, 1947 is the true first — Larkin's second and last novel, and his third book.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, Faber and Faber, London, 1947
- Bloomfield A3
- Faber firsts of this period are identified on the verso of the title leaf, which should carry the first-publication statement for 1947 and no added impression or reprint line; the presence of a 'Second impression' or later line rules out the first printing
- Original blue cloth, spine lettered in gilt, in the publisher's printed typographic dustwrapper with the price present at the front flap on an unclipped copy
- Published in February 1947, during the great freeze-up of 1946–47 and so apt to the title
- 248 pp., 8vo
- Publisher imprint reads Faber & Faber

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Philip Larkin |
| Publisher | Faber & Faber |
| Year | 1947 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, Faber and Faber, London, 1947 |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition, Faber and Faber, London, 1947; Bloomfield A3. Faber firsts of this period are identified on the verso of the title leaf, which should carry the first-publication statement for 1947 and no added impression or reprint line; the presence of a 'Second impression' or later line rules out the first printing. Original blue cloth, spine lettered in gilt, in the publisher's printed typographic dustwrapper with the price present at the front flap on an unclipped copy. Published in February 1947, during the great freeze-up of 1946–47 and so apt to the title; 248 pp., 8vo. One trap to avoid: the white jacket with the snowflake design and dark blue titles that circulates in descriptions of this book belongs to the American edition, not to the Faber first, and must not be used as a UK point.

## Is this the true first?
Census claim CONFIRMED: Faber & Faber, London, 1947 is the true first — Larkin's second and last novel, and his third book. The first American edition is St Martin's Press, New York, 1962, fifteen years later; the census's 1962 date is correct. Because the gap is so wide there is no simultaneity or precedence question at all: the St Martin's issue is a distant reprint rather than a co-first, and only the Faber 1947 is the collected first. Both editions are catalogued by dealers, but only the London first is collected as the first edition.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue is documented. Later Faber impressions declare the reprint on the title verso, which is the primary tell. The 1962 St Martin's issue is distinguished by its New York imprint and the white snowflake-design jacket; Faber's later paperback issues are the common modern reprints and present no confusion with the 1947 cloth first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Girl in Winter* by Philip Larkin a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-girl-in-winter
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.