# Is "Flush: A Biography" by Virginia Woolf a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Flush: A Biography by Virginia Woolf (The Hogarth Press, 1933) is identified by: True first is the Hogarth Press, London, 1933 (Kirkpatrick A19a), in light brown/buff cloth lettered in gilt on the spine, illustrated with six photographic plates and four line drawings by Vanessa Bell (the frontispiece spaniel modelled on Woolf's own dog Pinka). The Hogarth (London), October 1933 edition is the accepted true first and priority, preceding the first American edition (Harcourt, Brace, New York, 1933), which followed the same season.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first is the Hogarth Press, London, 1933 (Kirkpatrick A19a), in light brown/buff cloth lettered in gilt on the spine, illustrated with six photographic plates and four line drawings by Vanessa Bell (the frontispiece spaniel modelled on Woolf's own dog Pinka)
- Key identifying jacket point: the first-edition dust jacket (Vanessa Bell pictorial) is printed "Large Paper Edition," and the text block is amply margined — this wording and the generous margins distinguish the 1933 first from the smaller, later Uniform Edition
- The total first-edition run was 12,680 copies; the copyright leaf carries a 1933 first-publication statement
- Publisher imprint reads The Hogarth Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Virginia Woolf |
| Publisher | The Hogarth Press |
| Year | 1933 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | True first is the Hogarth Press, London, 1933 (Kirkpatrick A19a), in light brown/buff cloth lettered in gilt on the spine, illustrated with… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
True first is the Hogarth Press, London, 1933 (Kirkpatrick A19a), in light brown/buff cloth lettered in gilt on the spine, illustrated with six photographic plates and four line drawings by Vanessa Bell (the frontispiece spaniel modelled on Woolf's own dog Pinka). Key identifying jacket point: the first-edition dust jacket (Vanessa Bell pictorial) is printed "Large Paper Edition," and the text block is amply margined — this wording and the generous margins distinguish the 1933 first from the smaller, later Uniform Edition. The total first-edition run was 12,680 copies; the copyright leaf carries a 1933 first-publication statement.

## Is this the true first?
The Hogarth (London), October 1933 edition is the accepted true first and priority, preceding the first American edition (Harcourt, Brace, New York, 1933), which followed the same season. Both bear 1933 and both are collected; the Hogarth is the true first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Hogarth Uniform Edition copies are smaller-margined and lack the "Large Paper Edition" jacket wording — do not mistake the Uniform reissue for the 1933 first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Flush: A Biography* by Virginia Woolf a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/flush-a-biography
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.