# Is "To the Lighthouse" by Virginia Woolf a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf (Hogarth Press, 1927) is identified by: Hogarth Press, London, May 1927, in a first impression of 3,000 copies (Kirkpatrick A10). Hogarth Press, London, 1927, first impression of 3,000 copies, is the true first edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Hogarth Press, London, May 1927, in a first impression of 3,000 copies (Kirkpatrick A10)
- Bound in blue cloth lettered in gilt on the spine, with the top edge stained yellow and a paper spine label
- The true first is identified by a blank copyright page with no later impression noted on the verso, and by the presence of the cream dust jacket designed by Woolf's sister Vanessa Bell, showing a lighthouse amid waves printed in pale blue and black
- The original Bell jacket is essential to a complete copy and, being fragile, is now very scarce
- The UK Hogarth first precedes the US Harcourt, Brace edition of the same year
- Publisher imprint reads Hogarth Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Virginia Woolf |
| Publisher | Hogarth Press |
| Year | 1927 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Hogarth Press, London, May 1927, in a first impression of 3,000 copies (Kirkpatrick A10) |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Hogarth Press, London, May 1927, in a first impression of 3,000 copies (Kirkpatrick A10). Bound in blue cloth lettered in gilt on the spine, with the top edge stained yellow and a paper spine label. The true first is identified by a blank copyright page with no later impression noted on the verso, and by the presence of the cream dust jacket designed by Woolf's sister Vanessa Bell, showing a lighthouse amid waves printed in pale blue and black. The original Bell jacket is essential to a complete copy and, being fragile, is now very scarce. The UK Hogarth first precedes the US Harcourt, Brace edition of the same year.

## Is this the true first?
Hogarth Press, London, 1927, first impression of 3,000 copies, is the true first edition. The American Harcourt, Brace 1927 issue is the first US edition and is a resetting; it does not carry the Vanessa Bell Hogarth jacket. The original cream Bell-designed dust jacket is integral to a collectible first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Hogarth impressions are distinguished by an impression statement on the copyright verso; the US edition is told apart by its Harcourt, Brace imprint, its reset text, and the absence of the Bell jacket. No true book-club precedes the 1927 firsts.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *To the Lighthouse* by Virginia Woolf a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/to-the-lighthouse
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.