# Is "I, Claudius" by Robert Graves a First Edition?

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

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- 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
- Publisher imprint reads Arthur Barker

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Robert Graves |
| Publisher | Arthur Barker |
| Year | 1934 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition published 4 May 1934 by Arthur Barker, London (Higginson & Williams A42) |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## 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. Some first-impression copies carry a white paper wrap-around band printed in blue reading "CHOSEN BY THE BOOK SOCIETY"; the band is a first-impression feature, not a later addition. Two printers produced identical first-impression copies — The Star and Gazette Co., Ltd. (Guernsey) and Hazell, Watson and Viney, Ltd. — after the Guernsey machinery broke down mid-run and the work was transferred; both are the first, and the printer's imprint does not rank a copy. A green-cloth binding of the first impression is recorded, as are special copies in red morocco with gilt edges. Colonial Edition copies rubber-stamped on the front free endpaper (recorded in black and in green ink) are reported on the first impression.

## 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.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *I, Claudius* by Robert Graves a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/i-claudius
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.