Christopher Isherwood First Editions

• All the Conspirators — 1928 · Jonathan CapeFirst edition, first impression of Isherwood's first novel, published by Jonathan Cape, London, 1928, in the publisher's cloth with all edges gilt. Because the book sold poorly and many copies were remaindered, surviving copies in the original Cape cloth are scarce and are frequently encountered rebound in later leather bindings by binders such as the Chelsea Bindery or James Brockman. The Jonathan Cape London edition of 1928 is the true first, first impression. The first US edition did not appear until 1958, published by New Directions with a new author introduction, and is therefore not the first. No book-club issue. The New Directions US edition of 1958 is a distinct later edition, textually reset and carrying Isherwood's added introduction.
• The Memorial — 1932 · The Hogarth PressFirst edition published by Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, London, 1932, in an edition of 1,222 copies. The dust jacket was designed by John Banting and priced the printed price. Binding states are recorded (an early state in pink woven linen and a later state in ochre cloth lettered in blue). The Hogarth Press London edition of 1932 is the true first. The first US edition was published later by New Directions (Norfolk, Connecticut) and does not precede the UK printing. No book-club issue.
• Mr Norris Changes Trains — 1935 · The Hogarth PressFirst edition published by Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, London, 1935, in an edition of 1,730 copies, bound in green cloth stamped in black. The UK title is Mr Norris Changes Trains. The Hogarth Press London edition of 1935 is the true first. The first US edition (William Morrow, 1935) was retitled The Last of Mr. Norris because the American publisher felt readers would not understand the phrase 'changes trains'; it is the same novel under a different title. Verify the title page to distinguish the two issues. Differing US and UK titles (Mr Norris Changes Trains in the UK; The Last of Mr. Norris in the US).
• The Dog Beneath the Skin — 1935 · Faber & FaberFirst edition, first printing, published by Faber and Faber, London, May 1935. Full title: The Dog Beneath the Skin, or Where is Francis? A Play in Three Acts. A verse play and the first Auden-Isherwood collaboration; the title page credits both W. H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood, with Auden named first. The Faber and Faber London edition of May 1935 is the true first. The first US edition (Random House, New York, October 1935) followed the same year in grey boards stamped in blue and orange. This is a joint work by W. H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood, not by Isherwood alone. No book-club issue.
• The Ascent of F6 — 1936 · Faber & FaberFirst edition, first impression, published by Faber and Faber, London, 1936. Full title: The Ascent of F6: A Tragedy in Two Acts. A play and the second Auden-Isherwood collaboration; the title page credits both W. H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood, with Auden named first. The Faber and Faber London edition of 1936 is the true first. The play exists in three slightly different published versions: the first English edition (1936), a revised first US edition (Random House, 1937, in 1,500 copies, with a considerably revised text), and a second English edition (1937). The 1936 Faber printing is the textual and bibliographic first. This is a joint work by W. H. Auden and Christopher…. No book-club issue.
• Sally Bowles — 1937 · The Hogarth PressFirst edition, first printing published November 1937 in an edition of 2,040 copies. Blue cloth boards lettered in black to the spine, in the peach dust jacket printed in green and designed by Richard Kennedy, with the printed price to the front panel and spine. Issued as a separate slim volume; scarce in the jacket. UK Hogarth Press is the true first, issued as a standalone novella. Isherwood later folded the text into the novel Goodbye to Berlin (1939). No book-club edition; the standalone Hogarth printing is the rarity.
• Lions and Shadows — 1938 · The Hogarth PressFirst edition, first printing published March 1938, blue cloth lettered in black to the spine, in the dust jacket printed in brown and designed by Robert Medley. Subtitled An Education in the Twenties; a semi-autobiographical account of the 1920s. UK Hogarth Press is the true first; the US New Directions edition followed in 1947. No book-club issue.
• On the Frontier — 1938 · Faber & FaberFirst edition, first printing, 1938, octavo, 120 pages, in publisher's tan cloth with the black-and-tan dust jacket. Edition of 3,000 copies. A verse play, A Melodrama in Three Acts, written jointly with W. H. Auden. Bloomfield & Mendelson A18. UK Faber & Faber is the true first and precedes the US Random House edition of 1939. The work is a collaboration with W. H. Auden, though catalogued here under Isherwood. No book-club issue.
• Goodbye to Berlin — 1939 · The Hogarth PressFirst edition: The Hogarth Press, London, 1939, in oatmeal/textured cloth lettered in red with red top edge, in a dust jacket designed by Humphrey Spender; copyright page without a later-printing notice. Collects six linked pieces including the 'Sally Bowles' material later adapted as Cabaret. The UK Hogarth Press 1939 edition is the true first. The US Random House 1939 edition was produced from British sheets and follows. The earlier separately issued 'Sally Bowles' (Hogarth, 1937) is a distinct, scarcer precursor. The US Random House first is a separate, later issue made from British sheets; later printings note impressions. Distinguish from the 1937 'Sally Bowles' pamphlet.
• Journey to a War — 1939 · Faber & FaberFirst edition, first printing, 1939, in publisher's cloth with the spine lettered yellow and red, in the illustrated dust jacket priced the printed price. China reportage written with W. H. Auden, illustrated with photographic plates and a folding map at the rear. Bloomfield A20a. UK Faber & Faber is the true first; the US Random House edition followed in 1939. The work is a collaboration with W. H. Auden, catalogued here under Isherwood. No book-club issue.
• Prater Violet — 1945 · Random HouseFirst edition, first printing, Random House, New York, 1945, blue-grey cloth with violet and cream lettering and the top edge stained grey-violet, in the dust jacket priced 2.00 on the front flap. The US Random House edition precedes the UK Methuen edition of 1946. US Random House (1945) is the true first; the UK Methuen edition followed in 1946. No book-club issue.
• The Condor and the Cows — 1949 · MethuenFirst edition, 1949, a South American travel diary illustrated with photographs by William Caskey. The Methuen London printing is catalogued as the first English edition; a Random House New York edition also appeared in 1949. Both the UK Methuen and US Random House editions were published in 1949. Methuen is generally catalogued as the first edition, but the precise month-level precedence between the two 1949 issues is not reliably documented; the claim that the UK printing definitively precedes the US should not be stated as certain. No book-club issue.
• The World in the Evening — 1954 · MethuenFirst British edition published by Methuen, London, 1954, bound in blue cloth with gilt lettering to the spine; the first American edition was published by Random House, New York, the same year in cloth boards. Both are dated 1954 and appear under a shared dust-jacket design; each should retain the printed price on its respective jacket flap. The UK first edition is Methuen, not The Bodley Head, which did not publish this title. Methuen and Random House both issued the book in 1954; bibliographic precedence between the British and American editions is not firmly established, as no source gives a month for either, and the American Random House edition was in circulation by mid-1954. No book-club issue noted for the 1954 first printings; verify a copy carries no later-printing statement.
• Down There on a Visit — 1962 · Simon & SchusterFirst American edition, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1962. Bound in yellow paper-covered boards backed with black cloth to the spine, titled in orange, with a dun (tan) topstain and dark orange endpapers; 318 pages. The first-issue dust jacket was designed by Paul Bacon (orange and red design) and should carry its printed price on the front flap. The UK Methuen edition also appeared in 1962; the American edition…. US Simon & Schuster 1962 is the commonly cited true first, with publication precedence over the UK Methuen 1962 edition that follows. A stray dealer date of 1961 reflects a copyright or inscription anomaly, not a separate prior edition. No book-club issue noted. Later reprints and the Methuen UK issue are distinguished by publisher imprint and the yellow-and-black binding described above.
• A Single Man — 1964 · Simon & SchusterFirst American edition, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1964, collating 186 pages, in black boards with the title stamped in silver on the spine; the dust jacket carries a mid-century design with the title in an orange panel and was designed by Isherwood's longtime partner Don Bachardy. The first-issue jacket should retain its printed cover price. The UK Methuen edition, also 1964, collates 158 pages in grey…. Both the US Simon & Schuster and UK Methuen editions were published on October 29, 1964, and sources describe them as simultaneous or near-simultaneous. The US Simon & Schuster edition is the standard American first; firm bibliographic precedence over the UK Methuen edition is not established, so neither can be declared the outright true first. No book-club issue noted.
• Ramakrishna and His Disciples — 1965 · Simon & SchusterFirst edition, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1965: octavo, 348 pages, in publisher's cloth with a priced dust jacket. A religious biography of the nineteenth-century Bengali mystic, drawing on Isherwood's decades within the Vedanta Society. The London Methuen edition appeared the same year (1965). Dealer consensus treats the US Simon & Schuster 1965 edition as the true first, published earlier in 1965 than the UK Methuen 1965 edition. Both are 1965 impressions, so a copy should be identified by its Simon & Schuster imprint and copyright page. No book-club issue noted.
• A Meeting by the River — 1967 · Simon & SchusterPublished in 1967 in both a US edition (Simon & Schuster, New York) and a UK edition (Methuen, London), both dated 1967. The American edition is generally cited as the first. The UK Methuen first is bound in cloth, and its first-issue dust jacket carries a photograph by Ray Dean with a portrait of the author by Don Bachardy; the jacket should retain its printed price, and unclipped examples are collected as such. US Simon & Schuster 1967 is the commonly cited first; UK Methuen 1967 follows. Both editions are dated 1967 and dealers describe each as a first edition/first printing, so precedence rests on the conventional US citation rather than a documented month-by-month priority. No book-club issue noted.
• Kathleen and Frank — 1971 · MethuenFirst edition published by Methuen & Co, London, 1971, a hardcover of 363 pages with illustrations, in the publisher's dust jacket; the family memoir built from his parents' letters and diaries. The Simon & Schuster American edition, a longer setting of about 510 pages, also appeared in 1971. The Methuen edition is the UK first and is generally taken as the true first; a first-issue jacket should retain its…. The Methuen (London) edition, dated 1971, precedes and is the true first. The US Simon & Schuster edition is likewise dated 1971 (not 1972), so the two appeared in the same year, but the British Methuen printing is the first. No book-club issue noted for the first edition.
• Christopher and His Kind — 1976 · Sylvester & OrphanosThe true first printing is the signed limited edition of 130 copies issued by Sylvester & Orphanos in 1976 (100 numbered, 26 lettered, 4 with the recipient's printed name), with endpapers and a frontispiece portrait by Don Bachardy. This precedes the Farrar, Straus & Giroux trade edition, which is the first trade printing for general readers. The UK edition followed from Eyre Methuen in 1977. True first is the Sylvester & Orphanos limited edition (1976). The Farrar, Straus & Giroux printing is the first trade edition; UK Eyre Methuen 1977 follows both. No book-club issue. Note the limited/trade distinction: the FSG trade printing is not the true first printing.
• My Guru and His Disciple — 1980 · Farrar, Straus & GirouxFirst US edition, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1980. The US edition is generally taken as the first edition; the UK Eyre Methuen edition also appeared in 1980. No stated number-line issue points beyond first printing. US FSG 1980 is treated as the first edition; UK Eyre Methuen also 1980 (near-simultaneous). No firm precedence point is documented to distinguish them beyond the US being the standard cited first. No book-club issue.

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