Is My Copy of Lady Chatterley's Lover a First Edition?

The points of issue

• True first (Roberts A42a): privately printed in Florence, 1928, limited to 1,000 numbered copies SIGNED by Lawrence and issued by subscription; the unexpurgated text
• Bound in mulberry-colored paper boards with the black phoenix device on the upper cover and a white paper label on the spine
• Printed by the Tipografia Giuntina under the direction of the Florentine bookseller Giuseppe ('Pino') Orioli
• The author's signature and the hand-numbered limitation leaf (numbered to 1,000) are the core points

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. 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.
3. Verify this is the UK true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. 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.
5. 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 1928 Florence private printing of 1,000 signed copies is the true first (Roberts A42a); there is no earlier edition. Two later editions are frequently confused with it but do NOT displace it: the 1929 Paris 'popular edition' (Edward Titus, c. 3,000 copies, unexpurgated, with Lawrence's new introduction 'My Skirmish with Jolly Roger') was AUTHORIZED by Lawrence himself to undercut the pirates — later than Florence, but not a piracy; and the numerous 1928-29 pirated editions are unauthorized. The first unexpurgated UK trade edition did not appear until Penguin's 1960 post-trial printing, which is collected as a separate landmark.P-036560

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Precedence traps to watch: (1) an UNSIGNED 'Florence 1928' copy is almost certainly the second issue — the c. 200-copy 'cheap paper' printing on common paper (Roberts A42b, late 1928), not the true first; (2) the 1932 Martin Secker (London) and Alfred A. Knopf (New York) trade editions are AUTHORIZED but EXPURGATED/abridged, and are the copies most often missold as the 'first edition' — neither the first nor the full text; (3) numerous 1928-29 piracies imitate the Florence sheets. The genuine first is signed, hand-numbered to 1,000, in mulberry boards with the phoenix, of Giuntina/Orioli origin.P-036561

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Lady Chatterley's Lover a first edition?

A first edition of Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence (Privately printed) is identified by: True first (Roberts A42a): privately printed in Florence, 1928, limited to 1,000 numbered copies SIGNED by Lawrence and issued by subscription; the unexpurgated text.

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 1928 Florence private printing of 1,000 signed copies is the true first (Roberts A42a); there is no earlier edition.

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

Precedence traps to watch: (1) an UNSIGNED 'Florence 1928' copy is almost certainly the second issue — the c. 200-copy 'cheap paper' printing on common paper (Roberts A42b, late 1928), not the true first; (2) the 1932 Martin Secker (London) and Alfred A. Knopf (New York) trade editions are AUTHORIZED but EXPURGATED/abridged, and are the copies most often missold as the 'first edition' — neither the first nor the full text; (3) numerous 1928-29 piracies imitate the Florence sheets.

I have a first edition of Lady Chatterley's Lover — 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.