Cover of another edition of this book. The Jonathan Cape 1921 jacket has not been photographed yet.
Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 20 Oct 2026.
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Harcourt, Brace and Howe published the novel first in New York in 1920. The first British edition is given as Jonathan Cape, London, 1921, in the year the firm began trading (1 January 1921). Cape's later Uniform Edition verso states that the book was first published in England in 1921. Cape reprinted it often: a 'Third English Impression' dated 1923, a 'New Cheaper Edition' around 1926, and the Collected Edition of 1930. Only a 1921 Cape copy with no later impression or edition noted is the British first. No binding or jacket description for the 1921 issue was confirmed.
Read the full guide to Jonathan Cape 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.
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.
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The cover image shows this book but may not be this edition or printing.
Jonathan Cape, London, in 1921, in hardback.
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.
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