Metrolandia | Metroland (Anagrama, 1989; Spanish)


Notes on this edition: Metrolandia | Metroland. Barcelona: Anagrama, 1989. Pp. 237 [238] + [2]. 19.8 x 14 cm. Translated by Enrique Juncosa. ISBN: 8433931636. (Spanish).

Later printings feature a variant image on the front cover (Anagrama, 2000).

Metroland (Einaudi, 2015; Italian)


Notes on this edition: Metroland. Torino: Einaudi, 2015. Pp. 226 + [2]. 18.2 x 12.2 cm. Translated by Daniela Fargione. ISBN: 9788806150822. (Italian).

A preliminary page states, “L’Arcipelago Einaudi | 217”, as pictured.

Visit Einaudi’s author page for Julian Barnes here: https://www.einaudi.it/autori/julian-barnes/

Lines on the Underground (Cassell, 1996)


Notes on this edition: Lines on the Underground: An Anthology for Bakerloo & Jubilee Line Travellers. Compiled by Dorothy Meade & Tatiana Wolff. London: Cassell, 1996. Pp. 31 + [1]. 17.7 x 11.2 cm. ISBN: 0304348619

Barnes’s contribution appears on page 14, an excerpt from his first novel Metroland.

Metroland (St. Martin’s Press, 1980)


Notes on this edition: First American edition – New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1980. $10.95.


Descriptive Bibliography: 

Title Page: METROLAND | Julian Barnes | St. Martin’s Press | New York

Copyright Page: © 1980 by Julian Barnes | All Rights Reserved | For information write St. Martin’s Press, Inc. | 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 | Printed in Great Britain | First published in the U.S. in 1980 | Library of Congress Catalog No. 79-3797 | ISBN 0-312-53169-9

Collation: 19.7 x 12.8 cm. Pp. [1-10] 11-72 [73-74] 75-130 [131-132] 133-176. [1]: ‘METROLAND’. [2]: blank. [3]: title page. [4]: copyright page. [5]: ‘To Laurien’. [6]: blank. [7-8]: [contents]. [9]: ‘PART ONE | Metroland (1963) | A noir, E blanc, I rouge, U vert, O bleu | Rimbaud’. [10]: blank. 11-72: text. [73]: ‘PART TWO | Paris (1968) | Moi qui ai connu Rimbaud, je sais | qu’il se foutait pas mal si A | était rouge ou vert. Il le voyait | comme ça, mais c’est tout. | Verlaine to Pierre Louÿs’. [74]: blank. 75-130: text. [131]: ‘PART THREE | Metroland II (1977) | Things and actions are what they are, and the consequences of them will be what they will be; | why then should we desire to be deceived? | Bishop Butler’. [132]: blank. 133-176: text.

General description: Binding 20.5 x 13.5 cm. Blue-grey boards, silver blocked on spine. Grey end-papers. Black dust jacket lettered in silver (title) and white (author), with a photograph of the author by Jerry Bauer on lower panel. Jacket based on the first U.K. edition by Jonathan Cape

Variants: Some first editions carry a “B” stamped to the front end page, as pictured.


Review Copy Slips: Review copies for the first American edition of Metroland often included a review slip containing publication details, as pictured.

Metroland | Archive Edition (Vintage, 2016)


Notes on this edition: Julian Barnes. Metroland. London: Vintage, 2016. Pp. 203 [225] + [7]. 21.6 x 13.5 cm. ISBN: 9781784705916. £9.99.

Special Archive Edition with a new introduction by Julian Barnes. The archive material features letters and reviews pertaining to the novel Metroland:

  • Letter from Sheila McIlwraith at AD Peters Writers’ Agents submitting manuscript to Tom Maschler at Jonathan Cape.
  • First report on the manuscript (initials XH)
  • Second report on the manuscript (initials CC)
  • Letter from Julian Barnes outlining his edits to Liz Calder his editor
  • Deleted scene from the first draft of the manuscript
  • Letter from Julian Barnes to Tony Colwell, the art director responsible for the book jacket
  • Letter from Philip Larkin to Julian Barnes
  • Letter from Dodie Smith to Julian Barnes
  • Reviews

The book’s graphic design is based on London Underground seat fabrics. For more on the design on the Vintage Blog: http://vintagebooksdesign.tumblr.com/post/151283886571/metroland-julianbarnes

Metroland (Picador, 1990)


Notes on this edition: Julian Barnes. Metroland. London: Picador, 1990. Pp. 176. 19.7 x 12.8 cm. ISBN: 0330313819 (UK £3.99; $11.99 Australia; NZ $15.95)

First edition Picador paperback, published by Pan Books in association with Jonathan Cape. Cover illustration by Kenny McKendry.

Signed by Julian Barnes to the title page. Paper cover is in rough condition, so we are seeking additional specimens.

Metroland (Humanitas, 2004; Romanian)


Notes on this edition: Julian Barnes. Metroland. Bucureşti: Humanitas, 2004. Pp. 213 + [3]. 20 x 13 cm. Translated by Mihai Moroiu. ISBN: 9735007835. (Romanian)

Paper cover with red promotional band, as pictured.

Metroland (Haffmans Verlag, 1989; German; Paperback)


Notes on this edition: Metroland.  Zürich: Haffmans Verlag, 1989. Pp. 231 [232] + [8]. 18 x 10.8 cm. Translated by Gertraude Krueger. ISBN: 3251011286

Cover art by Volker Kriegel. Marked as “Haffmans-Taschenbuch 128”.

The copy pictured above has a bookseller’s inventory/price sticker on the lower back cover that was not present at the time of publication.

The copy below is the second printing, as indicated by the publisher’s slip inserted into the inside cover. The publisher’s slip is unique to this copy, as it is Julian Barnes’s personal copy.

Metroland (The Book Club, 1980)


Notes on this edition: First Book Club edition – London: The Book Club, 1980. This Foyles Book Club edition uses the same text block as the Jonathan Cape first edition, but is printed on taller pages. Upon examination of multiple copies, the dust jacket spine frequently turns color over time, as pictured. 

Descriptive Bibliography: 

Title Page: METROLAND | Julian Barnes | THE BOOK CLUB | LONDON

Copyright Page: The Book Club | 125 Charing Cross Road | London WC2H 0EB | Copyright © Julian Barnes | First published in Great Britain 1980 | This edition 1980 by arrangement with Jonathan Cape Ltd | Printed and bound in Great Britain by | Biddles Ltd, Guildford and King’s Lynn

Collation: 21.5 x 13.7 cm. Pp. [1-10] 11-72 [73-74] 75-130 [131-132] 133-176. [1]: ‘METROLAND’. [2]: blank. [3]: title page. [4]: copyright page. [5]-176: as in the first Jonathan Cape edition (1980).

General description: Binding 22.5 x 14.5 cm. Red boards, gold blocked on spine. White end-papers. Tan dust jacket with pastoral scene on front and no author photograph. Jacket states: ‘This edition available exclusively to members of Foyles Book Clubs’. 

Metroland (Ayrinti Yayinlari, 2005; Turkish)


Notes on this edition: Julian Barnes. Metroland. Istanbul: Ayrıntı Yayinlari, 2005. Pp. 204. Translated by Serdar Rifat Kırkoğlu. Pp. 204 + [4]. 19.5 x 13 cm. ISBN: 9789755392387. (Turkish).

Previous edition: Istanbul: Mitos, 1996. Pp. 224.