# Is "Loving" by Henry Green a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Loving by Henry Green (The Hogarth Press, 1945) is identified by: First edition, first impression: The Hogarth Press, London, 1945; octavo, 229 pp. True first is The Hogarth Press, London, 1945 — the census claim is confirmed.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first impression: The Hogarth Press, London, 1945; octavo, 229 pp. plus a final unnumbered leaf, bound in the publisher's blue cloth with the spine lettered in gilt
- Printed on wartime economy paper, so toning, tanning and creasing of the text block are normal on genuine first impressions and are not evidence of a later issue
- Identification turns on the copyright-page verso rather than the title-page year: dealers record a Hogarth second impression also dated 1945, which is separated from the first only by the added impression statement on the verso
- The Hogarth wartime jacket is very seldom present and its design is not consistently transcribed across dealer records, so no jacket design points are published here; on unclipped examples the price is present at the flap
- Publisher imprint reads The Hogarth Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Henry Green |
| Publisher | The Hogarth Press |
| Year | 1945 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first impression: The Hogarth Press, London, 1945; octavo, 229 pp. plus a final unnumbered leaf, bound in the publisher's… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First edition, first impression: The Hogarth Press, London, 1945; octavo, 229 pp. plus a final unnumbered leaf, bound in the publisher's blue cloth with the spine lettered in gilt. Printed on wartime economy paper, so toning, tanning and creasing of the text block are normal on genuine first impressions and are not evidence of a later issue. Identification turns on the copyright-page verso rather than the title-page year: dealers record a Hogarth second impression also dated 1945, which is separated from the first only by the added impression statement on the verso. The Hogarth wartime jacket is very seldom present and its design is not consistently transcribed across dealer records, so no jacket design points are published here; on unclipped examples the price is present at the flap.

## Is this the true first?
True first is The Hogarth Press, London, 1945 — the census claim is confirmed. The first American edition is The Viking Press, New York, 1949 (248 pp.), which states its edition on the copyright page and records first publication in 1945; it is collected as the American first but has no precedence. Both editions are collected: the Hogarth 1945 is the true first, the Viking 1949 the first American. The Viking edition is a 'first thus' trap — its own 'First Edition' statement refers only to the American printing.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
A Hogarth Press second impression, also dated 1945, is documented by two independent dealers and is the commonest trap for this title, since the title-page year is unchanged; only the impression statement on the verso separates it. No documented UK book-club issue of the Hogarth first was found in the sources consulted.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Loving* by Henry Green a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/loving
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.