SECTION A: Books written, co-written or translated by Robert Graves

A41 OLD SOLDIERS NEVER DIE [1933]

a. First edition:

Collation: [A]8 B–T8 u/u*2/8, 162 leaves.

p.[1]–[2] blank; p.[3] OLD SOLDIERS NEVER DIE; p.[4] blank; p. [5] title-page; p.[6] publisher’s, printer’s and rights reservation notices; pp.7–8 CONTENTS; pp.9–324 text.

Price: 7s. 6d. Number of copies: 2,000. Published August 1933 in a yellow dust-jacket printed in black. ‘The English Catalogue of Books for 1933’ reports this book was published September 1933.

Notes: This book was rewritten by Graves.

Impressions: 2nd, September 1933 (2,000 copies); 3rd, October 1933 (2,000 copies); 4th, July 1936 (3,000 copies) at 3s. 6d.

A paperback reprint of this edition was issued by Anthony Mott Ltd., London, in 1983. It lacks pp.[1]–[4]; pp.[5]–[6] have been reset; the remainder appears to be a photographic reprinting. It was published at £4.95.

A photographically reproduced reprint of A41a was issued by Phillip Austen Publishing in 1994. There was a reduced size facsimile reprint of the fourth impression, including dust-jacket. The book is not identified as to publisher, place or date. A printing similar to the preceeding, in paper covers was produced by the Naval & Military Press in 2001.

This book has been translated into Italian.

A41b. First Australian edition (1933):

Collation: [A]8 B–T8, 152 leaves.

p.[i] OLD SOLDIERS NEVER DIE; p.[ii] blank; p.[iii] title-page; p.iv printing and copyright notices; pp.[v]–vi CONTENTS; p.[vii] OLD SOLDIERS NEVER DIE; p.[viii] blank; pp. [1] 2–295 text with pp.[6, 14, 22, 41, 53, 58, 88, 97, 116, 125, 134, 146, 160, 172, 181, 192, 201, 208, 217, 235, 242, 250, 260, 269, 276, 285, 290] unnumbered; p.296 text and printer’s notice.

Price: 6s. Australian. Number of copies: 1,998. Published 17 November 1933 in tan dust-jacket printed in red-orange and black.

A41c. Second English edition ([1942]):

Collation: [A]16B–H16, 128 leaves.

p.[i] OLD SOLDIERS NEVER DIE; p.[2] author’s advertisement; p. [3] title-page; p. [4] publication, printer’s, rights reservation and war economy notices; pp.v–vi CONTENTS; pp.7–256 text, with p.[128] being unnumbered.

18.3 × 12.5 cm. Bulk: 1.5 cm. White wove paper; all edges trimmed. Bound in white paper covers printed in light blue and black.

Price: 2s. Number of copies: 25,000. Published in May 1943 in white dust-jacket printed in light blue and black as cover.

A41d. First edition, fourth English impression ([1964]):

Collation: n2 [A]8 B–T8 u/u28, 164 leaves.

p.[i] OLD SOLDIERS NEVER DIE; p.[ii] blank; p.[iii] title-page; p.[iv] publication and copyright notices; pp. 1–7 INTRODUCTION; p.[8] blank; pp.9–324 text.

18.4 × 12.0 cm. Bulk: 1.6 cm. White wove paper; all edges trimmed. Bound in white paper covers printed in black, pink and olive-gold.

Price: 7s. 6d. Number of copies: 10,068. Published 26 November 1964.

Note: This is the first impression with an introduction by Graves. The front cover and inner front cover have blurbs by Graves.

A41e. First American edition ([1966]):

Collation: 104 leaves, glued at the spine.

p. [1] THE BATTLE OF LOOS— | Some English Newspapers Reach The Trenches | [one paragraph about the Battle of Loos]; p. [2] blank; p. [3] title-page; p. [4] rights reservation, publisher's and printing notices; p. 5-9 INTRODUCTION | by Robert Graves; p. [10] blank; pp. 11-207 text; p. [208] publisher's advertisements.

17.7 × 10.7 cm. Bulk: 0.7 cm. White wove paper; all edges trimmed and stained red. Bound in white paper covers printed in black, yellow and red. The front cover reproduces a black and white photograph of a British soldier in battle dress.

Price: 75¢. Number of copies unknown. Published March 1966.

Note: There is a blurb by Graves on the front cover and Graves has written the introduction.

A41f. Third English edition (annotated, illustrated) [2004]:

Collation: 161 leaves, excluding illustrations.

p. [a] OLD SOLDIERS NEVER DIE; p. [b] blank; p. [c] title-page; p. [d] publisher’s, copyright, design credit, rights reservation, printer’s and ISBN notices; p. i CONTENTS; p. ii APPENDICES; pp. iii-iv ILLUSTRATIONS; p. v. MAPS; p. vi blank; p. vii FOREWORD; p. viii blank; pp. ix-xii PREFACE; pp. xiii-xix INTRODUCTION; p.xx blank; p. xxi ABBREVIATIONS; p. xxii blank; pp. [1] 2-235 text and illustrations, with pp. [8,14, 21, 36, 45, 49, 74, 81, 96, 103, 110, 119, 129, 138, 145, 154, 162, 168, 175, 188, 193, 201, 208, 215, 221, 227, 231] unnumbered and with 8 pp. of illustrations between pp. 38-39, 8 pp. of illustrations between pp. 102–[103], 8 pp. of illustrations between pp. 166-167, 8 pp. of illustrations between pp. 230-[231]; p. 236 blank; p. [237] APPENDICES; p. 238 blank; pp. 239-246 APPENDIX I; pp. 247-248 APPENDIX II; pp. 249-255 APPENDIX III; pp. 256-258 APPENDIX IV; pp. 259-262 APPENDIX V; pp. 263-264 APPENDIX VI; p. [265] MAPS; p. [266] blank; pp. 267-272 maps; p. [273] CONCORDANCE TABLE | FURTHER READING | INDEX; p. 274 blank; p. [275] CONCORDANCE TABLE; p. 276 blank; pp. 277-281 FURTHER READING; p. 282 blank; pp. 283-293 INDEX; p. 294 advertisement for ‘Old Soldier Sahib’.

22.8 × 14.9 cm. Bulk: 1.5/2.3 cm. White wove paper; all edges trimmed. White wove endpapers. Bound in dark blue simulated cloth; front and back blank; spine stamped in gold, from top to bottom, facing back: OLD SOLDIERS NEVER DIE | PRIVATE FRANK RICHARDS | [below which:] DCM, MM | [at foot:] [near front:] Krijnen | below which:] and | [near back:] Langley

Price: £25.00. Number of copies unknown. Published 22 June 2004 in a white dust-jacket printed in multiple colours.

A41g. Fourth English edition (2016):

Collation: [a-h] i-vii [viii] 1-251 [252-254], 135 leaves, glued at the spine.

p. [a] OLD SOLDIERS NEVER DIE | [rule] | PARTHIAN | [rule] LIBRARY OF WALES; p. [b] blank; p. [c] biographical note on Frank Richards; p. [d] blank; p. [e] title-page; p. [f] publisher’s, publication, ISBN; copyright; cover design; typesetter’s and printer’s notices; p. [g] CONTENTS; p. [h] blank; pp. i-vii Foreword (by Peter Stead); p. [viii] blank; pp. 1-250 text; p. 251 biographical notes on Christopher Williams and Peter Stead; p. [252] LIBRARY OF WALES; p. [253] list of organisations funding the Library of Wales; p. [254] list of books published by the Library of Wales.

21.5 × 13.5 cm. Bulk: 1.7 cm. White wove paper; all edges trimmed. Bound in white paper covers printed in black and maroon; front and back have a detail from Christopher Williams’ painting The Charge of the Welsh Division at Mametz Wood, 1918; front and black have blurbs by Graves.

Price: £8.99. Number of copies unknown. Published 1 April 2016.

Return to Section A List