# Is "The Sense of an Ending" by Julian Barnes a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes (Jonathan Cape, 2011) is identified by: London: Jonathan Cape, 2011. The UK Jonathan Cape edition (2011) is the true first, preceding the US Knopf edition (2011).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- London: Jonathan Cape, 2011
- 2011 Booker Prize winner
- Black cloth boards stamped in gilt to spine, black endpapers; first-issue dust jacket with its printed price
- The first printing carries the full Cape number line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 on the copyright page
- Publisher imprint reads Jonathan Cape
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Julian Barnes |
| Publisher | Jonathan Cape |
| Year | 2011 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | London: Jonathan Cape, 2011 |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
London: Jonathan Cape, 2011. 2011 Booker Prize winner. Black cloth boards stamped in gilt to spine, black endpapers; first-issue dust jacket with its printed price. The first printing carries the full Cape number line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 on the copyright page.

## Is this the true first?
The UK Jonathan Cape edition (2011) is the true first, preceding the US Knopf edition (2011).

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
On later impressions the lower digits drop out of the number line; signed copies exist. The US Knopf edition carries a US-priced jacket and a US-convention number line.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Sense of an Ending* by Julian Barnes a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-sense-of-an-ending
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.