# Is "The Man in the Red Coat" by Julian Barnes a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Man in the Red Coat by Julian Barnes (Jonathan Cape, 2019) is identified by: Illustrated non-fiction (ISBN 9781787332164). The UK Jonathan Cape edition (2019) is the true first, preceding the US Alfred A.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Illustrated non-fiction (ISBN 9781787332164)
- Hardcover in boards, issued in dust jacket
- The true first printing has a caption error: the photograph on page 33 is captioned 'Oscar Wilde as Salomé'; in a later first-edition printing the image was changed and recaptioned 'Wilde as a Greek'
- First printing also carries a full descending number line ending in 1
- Publisher imprint reads Jonathan Cape
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Julian Barnes |
| Publisher | Jonathan Cape |
| Year | 2019 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Illustrated non-fiction (ISBN 9781787332164) |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Illustrated non-fiction (ISBN 9781787332164). Hardcover in boards, issued in dust jacket. The true first printing has a caption error: the photograph on page 33 is captioned 'Oscar Wilde as Salomé'; in a later first-edition printing the image was changed and recaptioned 'Wilde as a Greek'. First printing also carries a full descending number line ending in 1.

## Is this the true first?
The UK Jonathan Cape edition (2019) is the true first, preceding the US Alfred A. Knopf edition (2020) and the Random House Canada edition (2020).

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later impressions correct the page-33 caption and adjust the number line or add an impression statement.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Man in the Red Coat* by Julian Barnes a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-man-in-the-red-coat
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.