Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 28 Oct 2026.
No sales recorded yet
We value a printing from verified sales of that exact printing, and none of the first impression has come to auction in our records so far. The chart and the value by condition appear here as soon as one does.
Pro members with this book on their wantlist are emailed when it sells under their price.
The play was first published, with Shaw's long preface, in the collection 'Heartbreak House, Great Catherine, and Playlets of the War', Constable and Company, London, 1919, before its first performance in New York in 1920. The title page and copyright line are dated 1919. A small octavo with a roman-numbered preface, 266 pages of text and two pages of publisher's advertisements, bound in green cloth (described as light or olive green) with gilt spine lettering. Dealers cite Browning, p. 598. Copies in the original jacket are uncommon.
We have not yet confirmed the issue points that tell this first impression from later ones. Until we do, compare your copy's title page and copyright page with the publisher, place and year above: any later printing or edition statement means it is not this one.
Know the points? Tell us. We publish them, with credit, once a second source agrees.
Constable, London, in 1919, in hardback.
Points of issue are listed only where at least two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 28 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.
To identify a first edition, check that your copy is the first printing of the first edition. Read the copyright …
Read the guide →6 min readBook condition grading uses a six-step trade scale: Fine, Near Fine, Very Good, Good, Fair and Poor. Collectors grade the …
Read the guide →7 min readFor most books published since the 1920s, the original dust jacket carries a large share of the value, often most …
Read the guide →