# Is "John Aubrey and His Friends" by Anthony Powell a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of John Aubrey and His Friends by Anthony Powell (Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1948) is identified by: First printing, 1948; Powell's biography of the seventeenth-century antiquary John Aubrey, running to 335 pages with an index, bibliography and appendices on Aubrey's works and library. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1948 is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing, 1948
- Powell's biography of the seventeenth-century antiquary John Aubrey, running to 335 pages with an index, bibliography and appendices on Aubrey's works and library
- Illustrated in black-and-white with a frontispiece and plates, a full-page reproduction of Aubrey's bookplate, and two folding Aubrey family pedigrees
- Bound in publisher's cloth with a dust jacket lettered in dark brown; the first-issue jacket should retain its printed price and is not price-clipped in first state
- Publisher imprint reads Eyre & Spottiswoode
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Anthony Powell |
| Publisher | Eyre & Spottiswoode |
| Year | 1948 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printing, 1948 |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First printing, 1948; Powell's biography of the seventeenth-century antiquary John Aubrey, running to 335 pages with an index, bibliography and appendices on Aubrey's works and library. Illustrated in black-and-white with a frontispiece and plates, a full-page reproduction of Aubrey's bookplate, and two folding Aubrey family pedigrees. Bound in publisher's cloth with a dust jacket lettered in dark brown; the first-issue jacket should retain its printed price and is not price-clipped in first state.

## Is this the true first?
London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1948 is the true first. The US edition (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1948) was printed from the English sheets and follows.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
A revised edition was issued later (1963); the 1948 Eyre & Spottiswoode printing is the first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *John Aubrey and His Friends* by Anthony Powell a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/john-aubrey-and-his-friends
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.