Tag: Book Club

Arthur & George | Book Club Edition (Alfred A. Knopf, 2006)

Notes on this edition: Julian Barnes. Arthur & George. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. Pp. 385 [386] + [6]. 21.5 x 14.7 cm. ISBN: 030726310X. Book club edition.

The hardback book club edition of Julian Barnes’s Arthur & George looks very similar to the First American Edition, but the book club edition is considerably smaller, has no price indicated on the inside front flap, has a smooth/cut fore edge, and features a book club number on the back cover near the altered, white ISBN box (comparison images included). Other small differences are not noted here.

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’. 

Flaubert’s Parrot (Alfred A. Knopf, 1985; Paperback)

Notes about this edition: Flaubert’s Parrot. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1985. Pp. 190. 21.2 x 14 cm. Paperbound with setting and cover illustration as in the first U.S. hardback edition.

This paperback edition of Julian Barnes’s Flaubert’s Parrot appears nearly identical to the first edition hardback published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1985. The title pages the copyright pages are identical, except that this paperback edition does not state “First American Edition” and does not include information about where the book was printed, as in the hardback edition. The ISBN listed on the copyright page is for the hardback edition. This paperback edition contains no marking indicating it is an American book club edition, but this is a likely explanation. 

Flaubert’s Parrot | Talking It Over (QPD, 2000)

Notes about this edition: Julian Barnes. Flaubert’s Parrot | Talking It Over. London: Quality Paperbacks Direct, 2000. Pp. 498. 19.7 x 12.6 cm.

Quality Paperbacks Direct issued this “omnibus” edition of Julian Barnes’s novels Flaubert’s Parrot and Talking It Over in 2000, the same year Jonathan Cape released Love, etc, Barnes’s sequel to Talking It Over. The cover replicates artwork for Talking It Over, as the book likely sought to capitalize on the sequel’s release.

Barnes’s paperback rights were managed by Picador at the time of publication, as QPD notes on the copyright page. The book’s table of contents lists Flaubert’s Parrot as beginning on page ‘vii’ and Talking It Over on page 231.