# Is "The French Lieutenant's Woman" by John Fowles a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles (Jonathan Cape, 1969) is identified by: Jonathan Cape, London, 1969, first edition, first impression, with no later-impression statement on the copyright page. Jonathan Cape, London, 1969 is the true first; Little, Brown, Boston, 1969 is the first US edition, in blue cloth with its own imprint and pricing.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Jonathan Cape, London, 1969, first edition, first impression, with no later-impression statement on the copyright page
- Bound in publisher's brown cloth lettered in gilt on the spine, octavo, 445 pages
- The endpapers carry a drawing by Tom Adams and the dust-jacket typography is by Adrian Brewin; the jacket is dark maroon/brown, lettered in gilt on the front panel and spine, with a portrait photograph of Fowles on the rear panel and the printed price present on the front flap (present regardless of any clipping)
- US Little, Brown (Boston, 1969) followed and is distinguished by its blue cloth gilt and its own imprint
- Publisher imprint reads Jonathan Cape
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | John Fowles |
| Publisher | Jonathan Cape |
| Year | 1969 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Jonathan Cape, London, 1969, first edition, first impression, with no later-impression statement on the copyright page |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Jonathan Cape, London, 1969, first edition, first impression, with no later-impression statement on the copyright page. Bound in publisher's brown cloth lettered in gilt on the spine, octavo, 445 pages. The endpapers carry a drawing by Tom Adams and the dust-jacket typography is by Adrian Brewin; the jacket is dark maroon/brown, lettered in gilt on the front panel and spine, with a portrait photograph of Fowles on the rear panel and the printed price present on the front flap (present regardless of any clipping). US Little, Brown (Boston, 1969) followed and is distinguished by its blue cloth gilt and its own imprint.

## Is this the true first?
Jonathan Cape, London, 1969 is the true first; Little, Brown, Boston, 1969 is the first US edition, in blue cloth with its own imprint and pricing. The UK printing precedes the US.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Cape impressions are stated on the copyright-page verso; the US edition is told apart by imprint, binding colour and pricing. The 1981 film-tie-in issue and any book-club printings are distinct from the 1969 trade first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The French Lieutenant's Woman* by John Fowles a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-french-lieutenants-woman
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.