- UK first editions name Jonathan Cape on the title page and carry a "First Published" statement with the year on the reverse of the title page. A first impression shows that statement with no later printings listed beneath it.
- Live and Let Die (1954) exists in three jacket states on first-impression copies, told apart by whether and where the jacket designer's credit appears on the front flap.
- Press reviews printed on the jacket flaps generally indicate a jacket from a later impression; on Casino Royale (1953) a Times review on the front flap marks a later run.
Publisher · founded 1921 · London
Jonathan Cape
Jonathan Cape is a London literary publisher founded in 1921, first UK publisher of Ian Fleming's Bond novels and now a Vintage imprint at Penguin Random House.
- Editions tracked
- 582
- First editions
- 261
- Books
- 578
- Years
- 1899 to 2025
About Jonathan Cape
Jonathan Cape is a London literary publisher founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape and his partner George Wren Howard, and today an imprint of Vintage within Penguin Random House.
Trading started on 1 January 1921 at 11 Gower Street, Bloomsbury, with Cape supplying the publishing know-how and Howard overseeing design and production. Its first title was a two-volume reissue of C. M. Doughty's Travels in Arabia Deserta, priced at nine guineas, which sold out and went back to press. Edward Garnett served as the firm's reader until his death in 1937.
Cape published T. E. Lawrence (Revolt in the Desert, 1927; Seven Pillars of Wisdom, 1935) and, from Casino Royale (1953) onwards, the UK first editions of Ian Fleming's James Bond books. Its list also took in Roald Dahl, Hugh Lofting, Arthur Ransome, James Joyce and Robert Frost, then Kingsley Amis and John Lennon in the 1960s, along with Len Deighton, and J. G. Ballard and Salman Rushdie in the 1970s. After Cape's death in 1960, Tom Maschler ran the list for over 30 years.
In 1969 Cape combined with Chatto & Windus to protect both firms' independence, and The Bodley Head and Virago later joined the group. Random House bought the group in 1987, and Cape now sits in Vintage at Penguin Random House.
Identification
How to identify Jonathan Cape first editions
Authors
Books
Published by Jonathan Cape
Spot the edition: Binding cloth: green cloth with gilt spine lettering, as against blue cloth lettered in white (green is the first binding; blue is a second state)
Frequently asked questions
How do I identify a Jonathan Cape first edition?
- UK first editions name Jonathan Cape on the title page and carry a "First Published" statement with the year on the reverse of the title page. A first impression shows that statement with no later printings listed beneath it. - Live and Let Die (1954) exists in three jacket states on first-impression copies, told apart by whether and where the jacket designer's credit appears on the front flap.
How many Jonathan Cape books does MyVolumes track?
We track 582 editions published by Jonathan Cape, 261 of them first editions, across 578 books.
Where these facts come from
- Jonathan Cape, Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
- First Editions of Today and How to Tell Them (3rd edn), H. S. Boutell, Internet Archive, 1949 (archive.org)
- First Edition Identification by Publisher, Allen and Patricia Ahearn, ILAB, 2010 (ilab.org)
- Collecting Ian Fleming First Edition Books, Rare and Antique Books, 2015 (rareandantiquebooks.com)
- 007 Heaven, John Atkinson Books, 2024 (johnatkinsonbooks.co.uk)
- Ian Fleming James Bond first edition books identification guide, Nocloo (nocloo.com)
- When is a first edition not a first edition?, Existential Ennui, 2010 (existentialennui.com)
- Swallows and Amazons hardback 1977 (Book Club Associates), All Things Ransome (allthingsransome.net)
Every fact on this page was checked against the sources listed. Checked 20 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.