Is My Jacob's Room a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Published by Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, Richmond, October 1922, in a first impression of 1,200 copies printed by R. & R. Clark, Edinburgh (Kirkpatrick A6a
• Woolmer 26)
• Bound in crocus-yellow cloth boards with a printed paper label on the spine lettered in black; leaves untrimmed
• Issued in the pictorial dust jacket designed by Vanessa Bell — the first Hogarth Press book to carry a Bell-designed jacket — Vanessa drew the design, Virginia chose the terracotta colouring and Leonard advised on the lettering; the jacket is usually absent, and surviving examples are commonly faded from their original brightness
• Sources disagree on the exact day of publication (26 vs 27 October 1922), so only the month is asserted here
• About 40 copies of this same impression went to Hogarth Press subscribers and carry a small hand-printed slip pasted to the front free endpaper, which Woolf completed, signed and dated by hand in at least some copies; these are not a separate large-paper or signed limited issue and are catalogued under the same Kirkpatrick A6a

How The Hogarth Press marked a first edition

• Crown / Penguin Random House house style: true first printing states "First Edition" on the copyright page and carries a full number line whose lowest digit is 1.
• The lowest number in the number line is the decisive signal for the first printing.

Full The Hogarth Press first-edition guide →

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?

The Hogarth Press edition (Richmond/London, October 1922) is the true first, and the census claim is confirmed on that point. The first American edition followed from Harcourt, Brace, New York, 1923 (Kirkpatrick A6b, about 1,500 copies); it is a later separate edition, not a co-first, and carries 'Copyright, 1923' on the copyright page. The census description of 'a 40-copy signed issue' is corrected: the subscriber copies are part of the single 1,200-copy first impression and are distinguished only by the pasted hand-printed slip, not by paper, binding or a limitation statement. Note also that Jacob's Room was Woolf's third novel, not her debut — The Voyage Out (1915) and Night and Day (1919) were Duckworth books — so 'first Hogarth novel' is a press milestone rather than a first appearance in book form by the author.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented for the 1922 first. The usual confusions are the Hogarth second impression of 1,000 copies, printed shortly after the first began selling briskly; the later Hogarth Uniform Edition (from 1929); and the 1923 Harcourt, Brace American edition, which is frequently offered as 'the first edition' when it is the first American. Check against the A6a points: 1,200-copy impression, crocus-yellow cloth, black-lettered printed paper spine label, untrimmed edges.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Jacob's Room a first edition?

A first edition of Jacob's Room by Virginia Woolf (The Hogarth Press) is identified by: Published by Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, Richmond, October 1922, in a first impression of 1,200 copies printed by R.

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. The Hogarth Press edition (Richmond/London, October 1922) is the true first, and the census claim is confirmed on that point.

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

No book-club issue is documented for the 1922 first. The usual confusions are the Hogarth second impression of 1,000 copies, printed shortly after the first began selling briskly; the later Hogarth Uniform Edition (from 1929); and the 1923 Harcourt, Brace American edition, which is frequently offered as 'the first edition' when it is the first American. Check against the A6a points: 1,200-copy impression, crocus-yellow cloth, black-lettered printed paper spine label, untrimmed edges.

I have a first edition of Jacob's Room — 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.