Is My I, Claudius a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition published 4 May 1934 by Arthur Barker, London (Higginson & Williams A42)
• Bound in black cloth, spine stamped in gold "ROBERT GRAVES / I, / CLAUDIUS / BARKER", lower edge uncut; white laid paper with white wove endpapers
• 248 leaves, 21.8 x 13.8 cm, text pp
• 13-494, with the genealogical table "The Tree of the Imperial Family and Connexions" tipped in at p
• 495 — the table must be present
• The dust jacket is white, printed in blue, brown, yellowish pink and black, designed by John Aldridge; it is a priced jacket, and a clipped flap removes one check on the copy

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
4. Verify this is the American true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
6. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

Arthur Barker, London, 4 May 1934 is the true first and precedes the first American edition — Harrison Smith and Robert Haas, New York, 4 June 1934, in dark blue buckram — by one month; the census claim is confirmed. Both are collected, with the Barker the senior. The sequel, Claudius the God, duly followed from Arthur Barker, London, on 5 November 1934 — the same year, as claimed — in matching black cloth under a John Aldridge jacket; its first American edition (Harrison Smith and Robert Haas, New York) did not appear until 4 March 1935. Collectors take the two Barker volumes as a matched pair.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The sharpest reprint tell is the remainder issue: orange cloth copies distributed by W. H. Smith, with the genealogical table omitted — orange cloth plus a missing family tree marks a remainder, not a first. Nine further impressions followed between May 1934 and October 1935 (May, June, September and December 1934; January, May and October 1935), so an "Arthur Barker 1934" title page is not by itself sufficient: the impression statement decides it, and all later impressions were printed by Hazell, Watson and Viney alone. The "CHOSEN BY THE BOOK SOCIETY" band refers to the UK Book Society, a subscription club that circulated the publisher's own first-impression sheets — it is not evidence of a book-club reprint and should not be read as one. On the American side the pattern to expect is documented on the sequel: the Harrison Smith and Robert Haas Claudius the God was issued simultaneously with a Book-of-the-Month Club printing distinguished by a gold-stamped medallion on the binding and by jacket text.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of I, Claudius a first edition?

A first edition of I, Claudius by Robert Graves (Arthur Barker) is identified by: First edition published 4 May 1934 by Arthur Barker, London (Higginson & Williams A42).

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. Arthur Barker, London, 4 May 1934 is the true first and precedes the first American edition — Harrison Smith and Robert Haas, New York, 4 June 1934, in dark blue buckram — by one month; the census claim is confirmed.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

The sharpest reprint tell is the remainder issue: orange cloth copies distributed by W. H. Smith, with the genealogical table omitted — orange cloth plus a missing family tree marks a remainder, not a first. Nine further impressions followed between May 1934 and October 1935 (May, June, September and December 1934; January, May and October 1935), so an "Arthur Barker 1934" title page is not by itself sufficient: the impression statement decides it, and all later impressions were printed by Hazel

I have a first edition of I, Claudius — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.