Is My Copy of 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 UK 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. 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 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; there is no separate 40-copy signed issue. 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.P-039453

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. & R. Clark, Edinburgh (Kirkpatrick A6a; Woolmer 26).

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.

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. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.