rrobe02s – Page 130 – Julian Barnes Bibliography

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].

Flaubert & Louise: Letters & Impressions (Charles Hobson, 1988; Prospectus)

Notes on this edition: In 1988, artist Charles Hobson created an limited edition artists’ book titled Flaubert & Louise: Letters & Impressions. The contents of the book include letters written by Gustave Flaubert to his lover Louise Colet. Also included are excerpts from Julian Barnes’s novel Flaubert’s Parrot in which he fictionalized Colet’s voice in a chapter titled, “Louise Colet’s Version”. Hobson merges Flaubert’s real letters with Barnes’s fictional text to create a sense of an exchange between the couple.

The item presented in the photos is a prospectus for the artists’ book prepared at the time of the publication of the work in 1988. 21.5 x 14 cm.

A copy of the original artists’ book currently sells for $3,000 on Hobson’s website. Chronicle Books also issued a spiral bound book by Hobson titled Paris Encounters that contains a section devoted to his artistic creation Flaubert & Louise. Charles Hobson writes about his creative process for this work in an exhibition catalog in 2002: http://www.charleshobson.com/Hobson_Catalog.pdf

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

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.

Welcome to the Julian Barnes Bibliography

The Julian Barnes Bibliography is established as an ongoing, ever-expanding project intended to catalog and document works created by and related to the writer Julian Barnes. The online bibliography will consist primarily of print items and related ephemera from an established collection of Julian Barnes materials.

The Julian Barnes Bibliography sets the lofty goal of establishing an online bibliography of material that builds upon and expands traditional bibliographic practices by incorporating a visual element not typically represented in print bibliographies. Photographs of items will accompany detailed text descriptions of the items on display, and each item will be tagged for indexing across the site. Entries for first editions of U.K. and U.S. publications will receive descriptive bibliographic treatment, as one would find in a traditional, academic bibliography.

The presentation of material is ongoing and corrections to the descriptions presented are welcomed, so please return frequently to browse new additions to the online collection.

Best wishes,
The Curator
Julian Barnes Bibliography