Love, etc. (Alfred A. Knopf, 2001)


Notes on this edition: First American edition – New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2001. $23.00.

Descriptive Bibliography: 

Title Page: LOVE, | etc. | JULIAN BARNES | [Knopf device] | ALFRED A. KNOPF | NEW YORK | 2001

Copyright Page: This Is a Borzoi Book | Published by Alfred A. Knopf | Copyright © 2000 by Julian Barnes | All rights reserved under International and Pan-American | Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by | Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc., New | York. Distributed by Random House, Inc., New York. | www.aaknopf.com | Originally published in Great Britain by Jonathan Cape | an imprint of Random House Group Limited, | London, in 2000. | Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered | trademarks of Random House, Inc. | Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data | Barnes, Julian. | Love, etc. / Julian Barnes.—1st American ed. | p.  cm. | ISBN 0-375-41161-5 (alk. paper) | 1. Triangles (Interpersonal relations)—Fiction.  2. London | (England)—Fiction.  3. Male friendship—Fiction.  I. Title. | PR6052.A6657L68 2001 | 823’.914—dc21  00-062013 | Manufactured in the United States of America | First American Edition

Collation: 21.2 x 14.2 cm. Untrimmed pages. Pp. [i-viii, 1-2] 3-227 [228-232]. [i]: blank. [ii]: ‘ALSO BY JULIAN BARNES | England, England | Cross Channel | Letters from London | The Porcupine | Talking It Over | A History of the World in 10½ Chapters | Staring at the Sun | Flaubert’s Parrot | Before She Met Me | Metroland’. [iii]: ‘LOVE, etc.’. [iv]: blank. [v]: title page. [vi]: copyright page. [vii]: ‘To Pat’. [viii]: blank. [1]: ‘LOVE, etc.’. [2]: blank. 3-227: text. [228]: blank. [229]: ‘A NOTE ON THE TYPE | This book was set in Monotype Dante, a typeface | designed by Giovanni Mardersteig (1892-1977). Con- | ceived as a private type for the Officina Bodoni in | Verona, Italy, Dante was originally cut only for hand | composition by Charles Malin, the famous Parisian | punch cutter, between 1946 and 1952. Its first use was in | an edition of Boccaccio’s Trattatello in laude di Dante | that appeared in 1954. The Monotype Corporation’s | version of Dante followed in 1957. Although modeled | on the Aldine type used for Pietro Cardinal Bembo’s | treatise De Aetna in 1495, Dante is a thoroughly modern | interpretation of the venerable face. | Composed by Creative Graphics, | Allentown, Pennsylvania | Printed and bound by R. R. Donnelley & Sons, | Harrisonburg, Virginia | Designed by Anthea Lingeman’. [230-232]: blank.

General description: Binding 21.9 x 14.9 cm. Red boards, black blocked on red board spine. White endpapers. Dust jacket in cream with white flaps. Lettering is black and red on upper panel and spine. Lower panel features large author photo with a quote from The Observer by Tim Adams in white lettering.  Jacket design by Carol Devine Carson. Photograph of the author by Jillian Edelstein.

Love, etc (Jonathan Cape, 2000)


Notes on this edition: First edition – London: Jonathan Cape, 2000. £15.99.

Descriptive Bibliography: 

Title Page: Love, etc | JULIAN BARNES | [Jonathan Cape device] | JONATHAN CAPE | LONDON

Copyright Page: Published by Jonathan Cape 2000 | 2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1 | Copyright © Julian Barnes 2000 | Julian Barnes has asserted his right under | the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified | as the author of this work | This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, | by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise | circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or | cover other than that in which it is published and without a | similar condition including this condition being imposed | on the subsequent purchaser | First published in Great Britain in 2000 by | Jonathan Cape | Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, | London SW1V 2SA | Random House Australia (Pty) Limited | 20 Alfred Street, Milsons Point, Sydney, | New South Wales 2061, Australia | Random House New Zealand Limited | 18 Poland Road, Glenfield, | Auckland 10, New Zealand | Random House (Pty) Limited | Endulini, 5A Jubilee Road, Parktown 2193, South Africa | The Random House Group Limited Reg. No. 954009 | A CIP catalogue record for this book | is available from the British Library | ISBN 0-224-06109-7 | Papers used by The Random House Group Limited are natural, | recyclable products made from wood grown in sustainable forests; | the manufacturing processes conform to the environmental | regulations of the country of origin | Typeset in Deltatype Ltd, Birkenhead, Merseyside | Printed and bound in Great Britain by | Mackays of Chatham PLC

Collation: 21.6 x 13.7 cm. Pp. [i-vi] 1-249 [250]. [i]: ‘Love, etc’. [ii]: ‘by the same author | METROLAND | BEFORE SHE MET ME | FLAUBERT’S PARROT | STARING AT THE SUN | A HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN 10½ CHAPTERS | TALKING IT OVER | THE PORCUPINE | LETTERS FROM LONDON 1990–1995 | CROSS CHANNEL | ENGLAND, ENGLAND’. [iii]: title page. [iv]: copyright page. [v]: ‘to Pat’. [vi]: blank. 1-[250]: text.

General description: Binding 22.2 x 14.5 cm. Black boards, gold blocked on spine. Burgundy endpapers. White dust jacket lettered in grey, red, and black. Color image of three shoes to upper panel and two shoes to lower panel. Jacket design by Suzanne Dean. Jacket photograph by Ashley Rudolph. Author photograph by Jillian Edelstein on back flap. Title listed as ‘Love, etc’ [no full stop].

Cross Channel (Jonathan Cape, 1996)


Notes on this edition: Julian Barnes’s first collection of short stories was published in 1996 with the title Cross Channel. The stories center on the relationship between England and France. The photos include a copyright page from the third printing.

Descriptive Bibliography: First edition – London: Jonathan Cape, 1996. £13.99.

Title Page: CROSS CHANNEL | [decorative rule] | JULIAN BARNES | [Jonathan Cape device] | JONATHAN CAPE | LONDON

Copyright Page: First published 1996 | 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 | © Julian Barnes 1996 | Julian Barnes has asserted his right | under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 | to be identified as the author of this work | First published in the United Kingdom in 1996 by | Jonathan Cape | Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 2SA | ‘Interference’, ‘Experiment’ and ‘Evermore’ first appeared in | the New Yorker. ‘Gnossienne’ and ‘Dragons’ were | first published in Granta. | Random House Australia (Pty) Limited | 20 Alfred Street, Milsons Point, Sydney | New South Wales 2061, Australia | Random House New Zealand Limited | 18 Poland Road, Glenfield, | Auckland 10, New Zealand | Random House South Africa (Pty) Limited | PO Box 337, Bergvlei, 2012 South Africa | Random House UK Limited Reg. No. 954009 | A CIP catalogue record for this book | is available from the British Library | Papers used by Random House UK Limited are natural, | recyclable products made from wood grown in sustainable forests. | The manufacturing processes conform to the environmental | regulations of the country of origin. | ISBN 0-224-04301-3 | Phototypeset by Intype, London | Printed and bound in Great Britain by | Mackays of Chatham PLC

Collation: 20.2 x 13.6 cm. Pp. [i-viii, 1-2] 3-20 [21-22] 23-42 [43-44] 45-62 [63-64] 65-87 [88-90] 91-111 [112-114] 115-128 [129-130] 131-148 [149-150] 151-164 [165-166] 167-188 [189-190] 191-211 [212-216]. [i]: ‘CROSS CHANNEL | [decorative rule]’. [ii]: ‘BY THE SAME AUTHOR | [decorative rule] | Metroland | Before She Met Me | Flaubert’s Parrot | Staring at the Sun | A History of the World in 10½ Chapters | Talking It Over | The Porcupine | Letters from London 1990–1995’. [iii]: title page. [iv]: copyright page. [v]: ‘TO PAT’. [vi]: blank. [vii]: contents. [viii]: blank. [1]: ‘INTERFERENCE | [decorative rule]’. [2]: blank. 3-20: text. [21]: ‘JUNCTION | [decorative rule]’. [22]: blank. 23-42: text. [43]: ‘EXPERIMENT | [decorative rule]’. [44]: blank. 45-62: text. [63]: ‘MELON | [decorative rule]’. [64]: blank. 65-87: text. [88]: blank. [89]: ‘EVERMORE | [decorative rule]’. [90]: blank. 91-111: text. [112]: blank. [113]: ‘GNOSSIENNE | [decorative rule]’. [114]: blank. 115-128: text. [129]: ‘DRAGONS | [decorative rule]’. [130]: blank. 131-148: text. [149]: ‘BRAMBILLA | [decorative rule]’. [150]: blank. 151-164: text. [165]: ‘HERMITAGE | [decorative rule]’. [166]: blank. 167-188: text. [189]: ‘TUNNEL | [decorative rule]’. [190]: blank. 191-211: text. [212-216]: blank.

General description: Binding 21 x 14.5 cm. Black boards, red blocked on spine. Black endpapers. Dust jacket in red, blue, yellow, and green. Lettered in green and white. Jacket design by Tracey Winwood. Cream jacket flaps lettered in blue, the upper flap bordered in green and the lower flap bordered in yellow. Author photograph by Jillian Edelstein on back flap reproduced in green hues.

Something to Declare (Picador, 2002)


Notes on this edition: Something to Declare is Julian Barnes’s second collection of essays. The contents focus on topics related to France, its authors, artists, culture, and sport. Published as a Picador paperback, this edition represents the first U.K. edition. Also included in the photographs is a review slip that accompanied a review copy of the finished first edition of this collection.

Descriptive Bibliography: First edition – London: Picador, 2002. £8.99. 

Title Page: Julian Barnes | Something to Declare | PICADOR

Copyright Page: [Picador device] | First published 2002 by Picador | an imprint of Pan Macmillan Ltd | Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR | Basingstroke and Oxford | Associated companies throughout the world | www.panmacmillan.com | ISBN 0 330 48916 X | Copyright © Julian Barnes 2002 | The right of Julian Barnes to be identified as the | author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance | with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. | The acknowledgements on pages 303–4 constitute an extension of | this copyright page. | Every effort has been made by the publishers to contact copyright holders | of material reproduced in this book. If any have been inadvertently overlooked, | the publishers will be pleased to make restitution at the earliest opportunity. | All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be | reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or | transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, | photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written | permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized | act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal | prosecution and civil claims for damages. | 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 | A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from | the British Library | Typeset by Intype London Ltd | Printed and bound in Great Britain by | Mackays of Chatham plc, Chatham, Kent | This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, | by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, | or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent | in any form of binding or cover other than that in which | it is published and without a similar condition including this | condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Collation: 19.6 x 12.9 cm. Pp. [i-vi] vii-xviii [1-2] 3-16 [17-18] 19-33 [34-36] 37-47 [48-50] 51-62 [63-64] 65-76 [77-78] 79-97 [98-100] 101-108 [109-110] 111-144 [145-146] 147-170 [171-172] 173-192 [193-194] 195-208 [209-210] 211-214 [215-216] 217-234 [235-236] 237-249 [250-252] 253-267 [268-270] 271-287 [288-290] 291-318. [i]: ‘Something to Declare | JULIAN BARNES has published nine novels, Metroland, Before | She Met Me, Flaubert’s Parrot, Staring at the Sun, A History of the | World in 10½ Chapters, Talking It Over, The Porcupine, England, | England and Love, etc. He is the author of a book of short stories, | Cross Channel, and also a collection of journalism, Letters from | London 1990–1995. His work has been translated into more | than thirty languages. He is the only British writer to have won | both the Prix Médicis (for Flaubert’s Parrot) and the Prix Fémina | (for Talking It Over). In 1993 he was awarded the Shakespeare | Prize by the FVS Foundation of Hamburg. He lives in London.’. [ii]: ‘Also by Julian Barnes in Picador | Metroland | Before She Met Me | Flaubert’s Parrot | Staring at the Sun | A History of the World in 10½ Chapters | Talking It Over | The Porcupine | Letters from London 1990–1995 | Cross Channel | England, England | Love, etc’. [iii]: title page. [iv]: copyright page. [v]: ‘A.L.B. | 1909–1992 | K.M.B. | 1915–1997’. [vi]: blank. vii-viii: contents. ix-xviii: preface. [1]: ‘One | An Englishman Abroad’. [2]: ‘[photo] | A typical Ultimate Peasant’. 3-16: text. [17]: ‘Two | Spending Their Deaths | on Holiday’. [18]: ‘[photo] | Three beers, one ashtray, three singers: (l to r) | Jacques Brel, Leó Ferré, George Brassens’. 19-33: text. [34]: blank. [35]: ‘Three | The Promises of Their Ordination’. [36]: ‘[photo] | Jean Seberg kisses Jean-Paul Belmondo | to advertise A bout de souffle’. 37-47: text. [48]: blank. [49]: ‘Four | The Land Without Brussels Sprouts’. [50]: ‘[recipe for tomato soup] | A simple recipe’. 51-62: text. [63]: ‘Five | Tour de France 1907’. [64]: ‘[photo] | The Pont du Gard: ‘a little stupid’, | according to Henry James’. 65-76: text. [77]: ‘Six | Tour de France 2000’. [78]: ‘[photo] | ‘To the memory of Tom Simpson, Olympic medallist, | World champion, British sporting ambassador, | died 13th July (Tour de France 1967)’’. 79-97: text. [98]: blank. [99]: ‘Seven | The Pouncer’. [100]: ‘[photo] | George Simenon with all his needs | (the maid is off camera), 1930s’. 101-108: text. [109]: ‘Eight | French Letters’. [110]: ‘[photo] | Not an Ultimate Peasant but a | sophisticated poet: Stéphane Mallarmé’. 111-144: text. [145]: ‘Nine | Flaubert’s | Death-Masks’. [146]: ‘[photo] | Flaubert’s death mask’. 147-170: text. [171]: ‘Ten | Not Drowning But | Waving: The Case of | Louise Colet’. [172]: ‘[photo] | Louise Colet in riding costume, | by Courbet’. 173-192: text. [193]: ‘Eleven | Drinking Ink’. [194]: ‘[photo] | Alphonse Karr in his garden at Saint-Raphaël’. 195-208: text. [209]: ‘Twelve | Two Moles’. [210]: ‘[photo] | Turgenev at forty: the age of renunciation’. 211-214: text. [215]: ‘Thirteen | Consolation v. | Desolation’. [216]: ‘[photo] | George Sand, by Nadar’. 217-234: text. [235]: ‘Fourteen | Tail-Flaying’. [236]: ‘[photo] | A bad sight for Flaubert: Prussians in the | studio of a Rouen photographer, 1871’. 237-249: text. [250]: blank. [251]: ‘Fifteen | The Cost of | Conscientious | Literature’. [252]: ‘[photo] | Caroline Commanville, | Flaubert’s niece’. 253-267: text. [268]: blank. [269]: ‘Sixteen | Faithful Betrayal’. [270]: ‘[photo] | Isabelle Huppert as Emma Bovary, ‘a victim who | does not behave as a victim’’. 271-287: text. [288]: blank. [289]: ‘Seventeen | Justin: A Small | Major Character’. [290]: ‘[photo] | J. B. at the tomb of G. F., Rouen, 1983’. 291-302: text. 303-304: acknowledgements. 307-318: index.

General description: Binding 19.6 x 13 cm. Card wrappers with French flaps reproducing a painting by Howard Hodgkin in red, blue, and white. Lettered in white and blue on upper panel, black and blue on spine, black on lower spine, and black and red on flaps. Blue endpapers. Photograph of a Triumph Mayflower RTWI on back flap.


Below is the third printing of the same Picador edition:

Fiddle City (Jonathan Cape, 1981)


Notes on this edition: Julian Barnes published Fiddle City under the pseudonym ‘Dan Kavanagh’ in 1981. Fiddle City is the second book in a series of four crime novels featuring a bisexual detective Nick Duffy. The other novels in the series include Duffy (1980), Putting the Boot In (1985), and Going to the Dogs (1987). The plot of Fiddle City involves a smuggling scheme at Heathrow Airport.

Descriptive Bibligraphy: First edition – London: Jonathan Cape, 1981. £5.95. Print run: 2500.

Title Page: FIDDLE CITY | Dan Kavanagh | [Jonathan Cape device] | JONATHAN CAPE | THIRTY BEDFORD SQUARE LONDON

Copyright Page: First published 1981 | Copyright © 1981 by Dan Kavanagh | Jonathan Cape Ltd, 30 Bedford Square, London WC1 | British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data | Kavanagh, Dan | Fiddle City. | I. Title | 823’.914[F] PR6061.A895/ | ISBN 0-224-01977-5 | Photoset by Rowland Phototypesetting Ltd | Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk | Printed in Great Britain by | St Edmundsbury Press, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

Collation: 19.7 x 12.8 cm. Pp. [1-6] 7-173 [174-176]. [1]: ‘FIDDLE CITY’. [2]: ‘by the same author | DUFFY’. [3]: title page. [4]: copyright page. [5]: ‘To Craig and Li’. [6]: blank. 7-173: text. [174-176]: blank.

General description: Binding 20.5 x 13.5 cm. Blue boards, gold blocked on spine. Blue dust jacket lettered in white (title) and light blue (author), with a color image of Heathrow airport. No author photograph.

Before She Met Me (McGraw-Hill, 1986)


Notes about this Edition: Julian Barnes’s second literary novel was not published in the U.S. until 1986, making the McGraw-Hill paperback the first American edition. Following the critical success of Julian Barnes’s novel Flaubert’s Parrot, McGraw-Hill published a series of paperbacks to promote his backlist. After releasing Flaubert’s Parrot in paperback (1985), McGraw-Hill issued Barnes’s second novel Before She Met Me (1986), followed by Metroland (1987).

Descriptive Bibliography: First American edition – New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1986. $4.95.

Title Page: Julian Barnes | Before She Met Me | McGRAW-HILL BOOK COMPANY | New York St. Louis San Francisco Bogotá Guatamala | Hamburg Lisbon Madrid Mexico Montreal Panama | Paris San Juan São Paulo Tokyo

Copyright Page: Copyright © 1982 by Julian Barnes | All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Except as | permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may | be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a | data base or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the | publisher. | First McGraw-Hill Paperback edition, 1986 | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A G R A G R 8 7 6 | ISBN 0-07-003747-7 | LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA | Barnes, Julian. | Before she met me. | I. Title | PR6052.A6657B4 1986 823’.914 86-10627 | ISBN 0-07-003747-7 (pbk.)

Collation: 17.1 x 10.5 cm. Pp. [1-8] 9-174 [175-176]. [1]: ‘Before She Met Me | Julian Barnes was born in Leicester in 1946 and was educated | in London and Oxford. He was deputy literary editor of the | Sunday Times and is currently television critic of the Observer.’. [2]: blank. [3]: title page. [4]: copyright page. [5]: epigraph. [6]: ‘To Pat’. [7]: [contents]. [8]: blank. 9-174: text. [175]: blank. [176]: ‘Catalog | If you are interested in a list of fine Paperback | books, covering a wide range of subjects | and interests, send your name and address, | requesting your free catalog, to: | McGraw-Hill Paperbacks | 1221 Avenue of Americas | New York, N.Y. 10020’.

General description: Binding 17.1 x 10.5 cm. Paperbound in black. Lettered in white (title) and lavendar (author). No author photograph. No hardback edition was published in the U.S., which makes this paperback release the first true American edition.

Before She Met Me (Jonathan Cape, 1982)


Notes on this edition: Jonathan Cape published Julian Barnes’s second literary novel in 1982. The first edition originally sold for £6.50, but later first edition copies were price clipped and increased (e.g. “J. Cape” price tag of £9.95).

Descriptive Bibliography:

First edition – London: Jonathan Cape, 1982. £6.50. Print run: 3000.

Title Page: BEFORE SHE MET ME | Julian Barnes | [Jonathan Cape device] | JONATHAN CAPE | THIRTY BEDFORD SQUARE LONDON

Copyright Page: First published 1982 | Copyright © 1982 by Julian Barnes | Jonathan Cape Ltd, 30 Bedford Square, London WC1 | British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data | Barnes, Julian | Before she met me. | I. Title | 823’.914 [F] PR6052.A6657 | ISBN 0-224-01985-6 | Typeset by Gloucester Typesetting Services | Printed in Great Britain by | St Edmundsbury Press, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

Collation: 19.8 x 12.7 cm. Pp. [i-iv] [1-10] 11-183 [184-188]. [i]: pasted to board. [ii-iv]: blank. [1]: ‘BEFORE SHE MET ME’. [2]: ‘by the same author | METROLAND’. [3]: title page. [4]: copyright page. [5]: ‘To Pat’. [6]: blank. [7]: epigraph. [8]: blank [9]: [contents]. [10]: blank. 11-183: text. [184-187]: blank. [188]: pasted to board.

General description: Binding 20.5 x 13.8 cm. Black boards, gold blocked on spine. No endpapers (outer leaves pasted down). Black dust jacket lettered in red (title) and white (author), with a photograph of the author by Jerry Bauer on back flap.

The Library Book (Profile Books, 2012)


Notes on this edition: Julian Barnes. “The Defence of the Book.” The Library Book. London: Profile Books, 2012. Pp. 180 + [2]. 18.5 x 11.5 cm.

As part of the austerity policies sweeping through England, library cuts and closures became all too common an occurrence. In 2012, The Library Book was published in support of The Reading Agency’s efforts to promote libraries and reading.

In addition to Julian Barnes, several other authors contributed pieces to the book, including Zadie Smith, Alan Bennettt, Stephen Fry, James Brown, Anita Anand, Hardeep Singh Kohli, Luch Mangan, Seth Godin, Val McDermid, Lionel Shriver, Bella Bathurst, China Miéville, Caitlin Moran, Tom Holland, Susan Hill, Michael Brooks, Bali Rai, Ann Cleeves, Julie Myerson, Nicky Wire, Kate Mosse, Karin Slaughter, and Miranda McKerney.

Barnes’s contribution “The Defence of the Book” (pp. 9-13) claims to be “From a proposed second edition of England, England“, and it outlines the collapse of libraries and reading in England after Sir Jack Pitman’s theme park has brought forth the economic decline of ‘Old England’. Barnes published his piece of short fiction in The Guardian during National Libraries Day in February 2012.

Staring at the Sun (Jonathan Cape, 1986)


Notes on this edition: Julian Barnes’s fourth literary novel Staring at the Sun examines the ordinary life of Jean Serjeant from her childhood in the 1920s through her adulthood to the 2020s.

Descriptive Bibliography: First edition: London: Jonathan Cape, 1986. £9.95. Print run: 8000.

Title Page: STARING | AT THE SUN | Julian Barnes | [Jonathan Cape device] | JONATHAN CAPE | THIRTY-TWO BEDFORD SQUARE LONDON

Copyright Page: First published 1986 | Copyright © 1986 by Julian Barnes | Jonathan Cape Ltd | 32 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3EL | British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data | Barnes, Julian | Staring at the sun. | I. Title | 823’.914[F] PR6052.A6657 | ISBN 0 224 02414 0 | Typeset by Computape (Pickering) Ltd, North Yorkshire | Printed in Great Britain by | Ebenezer Baylis and Son Ltd | The Trinity Press, Worcester and London

Collation: 21.5 x 13.7 cm. Pp. [i-viii, 1-4] 5-63 [64-66] 67-135 [136-138] 139-195 [196-200]. [i-ii]: blank. [iii]: ‘STARING AT THE SUN’. [iv]: ‘by the same author | METROLAND | BEFORE SHE MET ME | FLAUBERT’S PARROT’. [v]: title page. [vi]: copyright page. [vii]: ‘to Pat’. [viii]: blank. 1-2: text. [3]: ‘ONE | You ask me what life is? It is like asking what a carrot | is. A carrot is a carrot, and nothing more is known. | Chekhov to Olga Knipper, 20 April 1904’. [4]: blank. 5-63: text. [64]: blank. [65]: ‘TWO | Three wise men – are you serious? | graffito, c.1984’. [66]: blank. 67-135: text. [136]: blank. [137]: ‘THREE | Immortality is no learned question | Kierkegaard’. [138]: blank. 139-195: text. [196-200]: blank.

General description: Binding 22.2 x 14 cm. Dark brown boards, gold blocked on spine. White endpapers. Brown dust jacket lettered in white on upper panel and orange and white on lower panel. Color illustration of the sun setting on an ocean by Cathy Wood. Author photograph by Allan Titmuss on back flap.

Metroland (McGraw-Hill, 1987)


Notes on this edition: Julian Barnes. Metroland. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1987. Pp. 176. 17 x 10.2 cm ISBN: 0070037469.

Following the critical success of Julian Barnes’s novel Flaubert’s Parrot, McGraw-Hill published a series of paperbacks to promote his backlist. After releasing Flaubert’s Parrot in paperback (1985), McGraw-Hill issued Barnes’s second novel Before She Met Me (1986), followed by Metroland (1987).

Pictured with the first edition paperback is a “library bound” (or “permabound”) copy discovered in a bookshop in St. Louis, Missouri. Libraries frequently used such services to bind together volumes of journals or magazines for long-term storage or to turn their paperback editions into longer-lasting hardbacks. This copy has no library markings, however, which is unusual, as it suggests a private collector paid for the binding or that it was a sample copy direct from the binder.