# Is "A Room of One's Own" by Virginia Woolf a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf (Fountain Press, 1929) is identified by: Two issues, three days apart. The census note that the Hogarth trade is 'the reference first' is wrong on precedence and is corrected here.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Two issues, three days apart
- Signed limited issue (Kirkpatrick A12a
- Woolmer 215A): printed in the United States by Robert S. Josephy and published 21 October 1929
- 492 numbered copies, 450 of them for sale, each signed by Woolf in purple ink on the half-title; bound in red cloth, uncut
- The colophon names the Fountain Press, with distribution in America by Random House and in Great Britain by Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press
- Hogarth trade issue (Kirkpatrick A12b): published 24 October 1929; collation [iv], 5-172; publisher's cloth in a salmon/cinnamon-orange shade (dealers describe the shade variously as salmon, cinnamon or orange), spine lettered in gilt; pink dust jacket designed by Vanessa Bell, printed in dark blue with a clock on a desk within an oval alcove, unclipped copies retaining the price at the flap
- Publisher imprint reads Fountain Press

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Virginia Woolf |
| Publisher | Fountain Press |
| Year | 1929 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Two issues, three days apart |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Two issues, three days apart. Signed limited issue (Kirkpatrick A12a; Woolmer 215A): printed in the United States by Robert S. Josephy and published 21 October 1929; 492 numbered copies, 450 of them for sale, each signed by Woolf in purple ink on the half-title; bound in red cloth, uncut. The colophon names the Fountain Press, with distribution in America by Random House and in Great Britain by Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press. Hogarth trade issue (Kirkpatrick A12b): published 24 October 1929; collation [iv], 5-172; publisher's cloth in a salmon/cinnamon-orange shade (dealers describe the shade variously as salmon, cinnamon or orange), spine lettered in gilt; pink dust jacket designed by Vanessa Bell, printed in dark blue with a clock on a desk within an oval alcove, unclipped copies retaining the price at the flap. The trade title page reads 'A Room of One's Own / Virginia Woolf / [Hogarth Press wolf's-head device] / Published by Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, 52 Tavistock Square, London, W.C. / 1929'; on the first impression the verso carries no impression statement at all, only 'Printed in Great Britain by R. & R. Clark, Limited, Edinburgh.'

## Is this the true first?
The census note that the Hogarth trade is 'the reference first' is wrong on precedence and is corrected here. Per Kirkpatrick A12, the Fountain Press/Hogarth signed limited was published in New York on 21 October 1929 and preceded the English edition by three days; the Hogarth trade followed on 24 October 1929, the limited reaching the UK the same day. Harcourt, Brace issued the American trade edition in New York on 24 October as well, alongside Hogarth's. Both the signed limited and the Hogarth trade are collected and both should be named: the Fountain Press limited holds date precedence as the true first, while the Hogarth trade is the standard English first and the reference text.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The Hogarth first impression is told from its reprints by the title verso: the first carries only the R. & R. Clark printer's imprint and no impression statement, whereas later Hogarth impressions add a printed list ('Second impression October 1929', 'Third impression November 1929', 'Fourth impression December 1929', 'Fifth impression March 1930'). One caution: that printed list on the later impressions gives first publication as September 1929, against the October dates recorded in the bibliographies — the discrepancy is unresolved and the month on a reprint's statement should not be used to date the first. No book-club issue is documented for 1929.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Room of One's Own* by Virginia Woolf a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-room-of-ones-own
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.