# Is "Nightwood" by Djuna Barnes a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Nightwood by Djuna Barnes (Faber and Faber, 1936) is identified by: CENSUS CLAIM CORRECTED — the Faber 1936 first edition does NOT contain T. TRUE FIRST IS UK — Faber and Faber, London, October 1936, precedes, and the census is correct on precedence despite Barnes being American.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- CENSUS CLAIM CORRECTED — the Faber 1936 first edition does NOT contain T. S. Eliot's introduction, and a 'Faber 1936 with Eliot's introduction' is a contradiction in terms
- Eliot, as Faber's editor, acquired the book and pressed Barnes to cut it, but his introduction was written for and first printed in the first American edition (Harcourt, Brace, 1937)
- Faber added it only at their second edition of 1950
- First edition points: Faber and Faber, London; the copyright page reads 'First published in October Mcmxxxvi' with no further impressions listed — that statement, standing alone, is the identification
- 239, [1] pp., octavo
- Bound in publisher's purple/violet cloth lettered in gilt on the spine — the cloth commonly fades toward reddish-brown, which accounts for dealer descriptions varying between purple and reddish-brown for the same binding — with the top edge stained purple (often faded) and the bottom edge untrimmed
- Publisher imprint reads Faber and Faber

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Djuna Barnes |
| Publisher | Faber and Faber |
| Year | 1936 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | CENSUS CLAIM CORRECTED — the Faber 1936 first edition does NOT contain T. S. Eliot's introduction, and a 'Faber 1936 with Eliot's… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
CENSUS CLAIM CORRECTED — the Faber 1936 first edition does NOT contain T. S. Eliot's introduction, and a 'Faber 1936 with Eliot's introduction' is a contradiction in terms. Eliot, as Faber's editor, acquired the book and pressed Barnes to cut it, but his introduction was written for and first printed in the first American edition (Harcourt, Brace, 1937); Faber added it only at their second edition of 1950. First edition points: Faber and Faber, London; the copyright page reads 'First published in October Mcmxxxvi' with no further impressions listed — that statement, standing alone, is the identification. 239, [1] pp., octavo. Bound in publisher's purple/violet cloth lettered in gilt on the spine — the cloth commonly fades toward reddish-brown, which accounts for dealer descriptions varying between purple and reddish-brown for the same binding — with the top edge stained purple (often faded) and the bottom edge untrimmed. Jacket is a green and purple typographical design, priced at the flap; copies in the original wrapper are especially scarce.

## Is this the true first?
TRUE FIRST IS UK — Faber and Faber, London, October 1936, precedes, and the census is correct on precedence despite Barnes being American. Both editions are collected. The first American edition, Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York, 1937, is separately collected as the first appearance of T. S. Eliot's introduction; it is bound in dark blue cloth with a gilt-lettered spine and a fuchsia-stained top edge. Collectors wanting the Eliot introduction in its first appearance need the US 1937, not the UK 1936.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The Faber second edition of 1950, which adds Eliot's preface, is the principal 'first thus' trap — the presence of the Eliot preface in a Faber copy proves it is NOT the 1936 first. Also 'first thus': the Dalkey Archive Press edition restoring Barnes's fuller pre-Eliot text with apparatus by Cheryl J. Plumb, and the New Directions American reprints. No book-club issue of the Faber 1936 is documented in the sources consulted.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Nightwood* by Djuna Barnes a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/nightwood
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.