Hardback

Light in August (1933)

Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 20 Oct 2026.

Market value

What decides the price

  • It is the first UK edition; the true first was published elsewhere.
  • The original dust jacket carries much of the price for a book of this age; its condition matters as much as the book's.
  • Condition is graded separately for book and jacket, from Fine down to Poor.

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Sales record

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.

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In short

Quick answer

Who published the Light in August 1933 hardback?
Chatto & Windus, London, in 1933, in hardback.
Identification

How to identify this edition

The true first is the Harrison Smith and Robert Haas edition, New York, 1932, in tan buckram, whose copyright page reads 'October, 1932, First Printing'. The first British edition came from Chatto & Windus in London in 1933, not 1932. It collates (iv), 480 pages and is bound in red cloth with gilt lettering on the spine. The pictorial dust jacket carries artwork signed Goetz. Two dealers give the print run as about 2,500 copies. Check for the Chatto imprint and the 1933 date on the title page.

Publisher's practice

How Chatto & Windus marked its first editions

  • Chatto & Windus did not use a special mark for first editions: it told H. S. Boutell so in its replies to his surveys of publishers' practice.

Read the full guide to Chatto & Windus first editions, decade by decade, and check your copy's copyright page against it. Our number line decoder reads the printing from the row of numbers.

Printing by printing

Printings and states

First impression

1933

At a glance

Not yet researched

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.

Questions collectors ask

Frequently asked questions

Who published the Light in August 1933 hardback?

Chatto & Windus, London, in 1933, in hardback.

Sources

Where these facts come from

Points of issue are listed only where at least two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 20 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.