# Is "The Death of the Heart" by Elizabeth Bowen a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen (Victor Gollancz, 1938) is identified by: First edition, first impression: Victor Gollancz, London, 1938; octavo, bound in the publisher's black cloth with the spine lettered in gilt — the standard Gollancz binding of the period, corroborated by multiple independent ABA/ILAB/PBFA dealer descriptions. True first is Victor Gollancz, London, 1938 — the census claim is confirmed.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first impression: Victor Gollancz, London, 1938; octavo, bound in the publisher's black cloth with the spine lettered in gilt — the standard Gollancz binding of the period, corroborated by multiple independent ABA/ILAB/PBFA dealer descriptions
- The copyright-page verso of a first impression carries the 'First published 1938' line with no added reprint or impression statement
- Gollancz stated its reprints, so the verso is the deciding point
- The Gollancz wrapper of this vintage habitually tones or browns along the spine panel — two independent dealers describe this as a common fault of Gollancz titles of the period — so an unusually bright spine panel warrants scrutiny for restoration or facsimile
- On unclipped copies the price is present at the front flap
- Sources disagree on the exact leaf count (445 vs
- Publisher imprint reads Victor Gollancz

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Elizabeth Bowen |
| Publisher | Victor Gollancz |
| Year | 1938 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first impression: Victor Gollancz, London, 1938; octavo, bound in the publisher's black cloth with the spine lettered in… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First edition, first impression: Victor Gollancz, London, 1938; octavo, bound in the publisher's black cloth with the spine lettered in gilt — the standard Gollancz binding of the period, corroborated by multiple independent ABA/ILAB/PBFA dealer descriptions. The copyright-page verso of a first impression carries the 'First published 1938' line with no added reprint or impression statement; Gollancz stated its reprints, so the verso is the deciding point. The Gollancz wrapper of this vintage habitually tones or browns along the spine panel — two independent dealers describe this as a common fault of Gollancz titles of the period — so an unusually bright spine panel warrants scrutiny for restoration or facsimile. On unclipped copies the price is present at the front flap. Sources disagree on the exact leaf count (445 vs. 446 pp. cited), so no collation is published here.

## Is this the true first?
True first is Victor Gollancz, London, 1938 — the census claim is confirmed. The first American edition is Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1939, a separate setting of 418 pp.; dealers identify first printings of it as such, and it carries a priced jacket with the price at the front flap. Both the Gollancz 1938 and the Knopf 1939 are collected, but the London edition has clear precedence. The lower American page count (418 vs. c. 445) is itself a quick discriminator between the two settings.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The Death of the Heart was a Book Society choice, and copies of the true Gollancz first are found with the official 'The Book Society' bookplate pasted to the front free endpaper, sometimes carrying Bowen's signature. That bookplate is NOT a book-club-reprint tell: it appears in the publisher's own first edition and should not be mistaken for a club issue. Later Gollancz printings are stated on the copyright-page verso.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Death of the Heart* by Elizabeth Bowen a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-death-of-the-heart
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.