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:

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 | Uncorrected Proof (Jonathan Cape, 1980)


Notes about this edition: Julian Barnes. Metroland. London: Jonathan Cape, 1980. Pp. 176. 19.8 x 13 cm.

Uncorrected Proof of the first U.K. edition published by Jonathan Cape. Published in red wraps with black lettering.

From Conversations with Julian Barnes (Univ Press of Mississippi, 2009):

Roberts: In the past you’ve mentioned, at least to me, that with Metroland you edited almost to the point of penalty on the proofs.

Barnes: I did, yes. I had to pay them some money. Not much, but a small punishment for being obsessional.

Flaubert’s Parrot | Uncorrected Proof (Alfred A. Knopf, 1985)


Notes on this edition: Julian Barnes. Flaubert’s Parrot. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1985. Pp. 190 + [2]. 21 x 13.5 cm.

Uncorrected Proof of the first U.S. edition of Julian Barnes’s novel Flaubert’s Parrot published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1985. Covered in green wraps with black lettering.

Presented here are two versions of the Knopf proof. The first copy was the top proof on the cart of text blocks upon which the cover color was written. The cover has the initials “P.C.” for “Press Copy” and the inside text block is marked “Press Copy Truck” with the cover color indicated as “Spring Green (114)”. This particular copy was acquired by the press operator prior to forwarding the remaining proof copies to the publisher for distribution to reviewers.

The second copy of this proof contains the provisional publication date of “March 8, 1985” with the “8” hand-written by the publisher. Stapled to the inside cover are two sheets of promotional material. This proof represents the typical state in which a copy would be forwarded to reviewers for consideration.

Also note that on one of the promotional sheets, the publisher corrected an error in which the main character of Flaubert’s Parrot, Geoffrey Braithwaite, was listed as “Charles Braithwaite”, suggesting a temporary blurring of the main male characters in Barnes’s novel and Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary [i.e. Charles Bovary].

Love, etc. | Advanced Uncorrected Manuscript (Random House Canada, 2000)


Notes on this edition: Julian Barnes. Love, etc. Random House Canada, 2000. 28 x 23 cm. [8.5 x 11 in.].

Random House Canada produced this spiral bound copy of Love, etc. The cover is marked as an “Advanced Uncorrected Manuscript” of the novel, and the text is a copy of the author’s manuscript with his hand-marked revisions as submitted to the publisher. This copy is inscribed by Barnes: “Never seen this before! | from | Julian Barnes”

Metroland (Jonathan Cape, 1980)


Notes on this edition: This entry features the first edition hardback of Julian Barnes’s first published novel Metroland, which won the Somerset Maugham Award in 1981. After winning the award, some copies of the first edition were issued with a red wrap-around band announcing the distinction.


Descriptive Bibliography: First edition – London: Jonathan Cape, 1980. £4.95. Print run: 3000.

Title Page: METROLAND | Julian Barnes | [Jonathan Cape device] | JONATHAN CAPE | THIRTY BEDFORD SQUARE LONDON

Copyright Page: First published 1980 | Copyright © by Julian Barnes 1980 | Jonathan Cape Ltd, 30 Bedford Square, London WC1 | British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data | Barnes, Julian | Metroland. | I. Title | 823’.9’1F PR6052.A66/ | ISBN 0-224-01762-4 | Printed in Great Britain by The Anchor Press Ltd | and bound by Wm Brendon & Son Ltd | both of Tiptree, Essex

Collation: 19.7 x 13 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.


Rogue Binding: The specimen below appears to be a rebound first edition of Julian Barnes’s Metroland. While the markings are minimal, evidence suggests the copy was previously part of a library and was at some point rebound. The poor quality of the tooling and application of the title to the spine suggests the binder used mass market materials or possibly a kit. The book is inscribed by Barnes, though whether the signature was acquired prior to the rebinding effort or not is unclear.