Notes for collectors
This page is intended to help enthusiasts on a limited budget avoid accidental duplications and paying heavily over the odds: it is not a guide for collectors of first editions or completists. New editions appear each year while others disappear from the shelves, hence the gaps in my information. This list will never be complete, but it's the best I can do.
New editions
The good news, especially for British readers, is that Everyman are printing many less well known books, as well as old favourites, in a new hardback series at an affordable price. Penguin editions (and others) are also re-appearing. The bad news is that some editions are being advertised on the Internet at very high prices, including 'print to order' (although these are now reducing in price). Don't be tempted by the first you see; search for cheaper editions, second-hand copies etc. and wait if you can.
There are also a few totally new books where enthusiasts have dug out old serials and stories not previously published in book form. Some of these are limited editions.
US collectors should also beware expensive re-prints of some early books or single stories that are out of copyright in the USA and available elsewhere at low cost or even free. Some of these re-prints are now appearing on eBay, often as 'Buy Now' items. UK collectors should be aware that all PG's works are still under copyright protection in the UK. There are exceptions for personal use so you probably won't run foul of the copyright holders if you import a single book (directly or mail order) subject to end use conditions - you must make your own decision on this and that means you must check how the law affects what you want to do for yourself. Nothing I write in this site gives you permission, actual or implied, to do or not do something.
Old editions
There are bargains to be found if you're not fussy about condition and don't insist on a dust jacket. First editions are expensive - personally I don't bother with them - and require a lot of knowledge or research to get the best deals. Don't rule out specialist dealers. Do look around first and do check out on-line sellers. If there's a lot of variation in prices, ask yourself why and read the small print. Ask the dealers if you aren't sure; all those I've contacted have answered my questions (so far). Beware of the word 'rare' - it's often just hype or refers to a particular edition, not the title.
Book names
Problem 1. Wodehouse's books were often published under different names in Britain and America. Some were published in serial form under yet another name. (Blandings' A-Z index includes all the names I know about, as do the individual book and story pages.)
Problem 2. A number of books and stories have been collected into omnibus editions. Since Wodehouse's death in 1975, a lot of less well-known stories have appeared in collections, each book having a different name but with few sellers listing the contents. Some of these are listed below.
Same name, different story - different name, same story
Changes were made to some books and stories in rewriting them to cross the Atlantic. Occasionally, PG would take the opportunity to re-write parts of a book he was not happy with. He also borrowed heavily from earlier stories, for example several Mulliner stories were not Mulliner's when first published in magazines. Perhaps the worst case is the following -
The two books A Prince and Betty and Psmith Journalist are sometimes listed as the same book. They're not. The US version of The Prince and Betty combines part of the UK version of The Prince and Betty and part of Psmith Journalist (which appeared in serial form in 1909, six years before its first book publication) with names changed. This US version is best regarded as a separate book. Another version of the story was published many years later in serial form and has now been released as the book A Prince for Hire (the forward to this explains the complicated publication history although, apparently, all is still not clear).
For further confusion see the Miscellaneous stories page which lists possible alternative names along with others of potential interest. If faced with a name you don't recognise, try my Works A-Z list.
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Omnibus editions or collections
British titles are used for consistency. Those books of short stories selected by PG for publication are part of the recognised Wodehouse canon and are listed on the main book list page and in the A-Z - see links above.
Warning: I only have a few of the volumes listed below, those marked with an asterisk *. Most of my information comes from sales adverts and book lists so always make your own checks before you buy, especially mail order. Look out particularly for thin volumes with very few pages and a full book price - these are often a single short story although some contain genuine rarities. Please also check the publisher's name - a good title might get used more than once - and the
Works A-Z list in this site. Some readers may find digital downloads a more economic option.
This page does not come with any guarantees, actual or implied, so you use it at your own risk. The rule is always caveat emptor; let the buyer beware.
- The Aunts Omnibus
- 1989 Hutchinson. Two novels (The Mating Season, Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves), five shorts and an excerpt - see contents list.
- Best of Blandings
- 2004 Folio Society. A six volume set comprising Service with a Smile, Uncle Fred in the Springtime, Heavy Weather, Pigs Have Wings, Full Moon and Summer Lightning.
- The Best of Wodehouse
- 1949 Pocketbook (US).* See contents list.
- The Best of Wodehouse, an Anthology
- 2007 Everyman's Library. See contents list.
- The Blandings Omnibus
- 1996 Hutchinson. Something Fresh, Heavy Weather and Summer Lightning.
- The Clergy Omnibus
- 1992 Hutchinson. Possibly the same as the earlier The World of Wodehouse Clergy below - they have the same contents description.
- The Drones Club Omnibus
- (No details - might be the next book).
- The Drones Omnibus
- 1991 Hutchinson. 21 short stories (no list). Previously published as Tales from the Drones Club.
- Eighteen-carat Kid and Other Stories
- 1980 Continuum.* (US) and 1997 Bloomsbury. Eighteen-carat Kid, The Wire Pullers, The Prize Poem and William Tell Told Again. See Eighteen-carat for more details.
- Enter Jeeves: 15 Early Stories
- 1997 Dover (US). Eight early Jeeves stories and the complete Reggie Pepper stories.
- Fore!: The Best of Wodehouse on Golf
- 1983 Ticknor & Fields (US). See contents list.
- The Gold Bat and Other School Stories
- 1986 Penguin.* The Gold Bat, The Head of Kay's and The White Feather.
- The Golf Omnibus
- 1973 Simon & Schuster (US), 1990 Hutchinson. 31 short stories - see contents list (incl. other publishers).
- The Hollywood Omnibus
- 1985 Hutchinson. Laughing Gas, The Old Reliable, short stories and non-fiction.
- Imperial Blandings
- 1993 Penguin. Pigs Have Wings, Full Moon and Service with a Smile.
- Jeeves and Friends: Short Stories
- 1997 Oxford University Press. For children, with activities.
- Jeeves and the Hard-boiled Egg and other stories
- 1997 Bloomsbury. Early short Jeeves stories.
- Jeeves and Wooster Omnibus
- 1999 Penguin. The Code of the Woosters, The Mating Season and Right Ho, Jeeves.
- The Jeeves Collection
- 1992 Chancellor Press. Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves, The Inimitable Jeeves and Carry On, Jeeves.
- A Jeeves Omnibus
- 1992 Dorset Press (NY). Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves, The Inimitable Jeeves and Carry On, Jeeves.
- Jeeves Omnibus
- 1931 Herbert Jenkins. 31 short stories (847 pages).
- The Jeeves Omnibus 1
- 1989 Hutchinson. The Code of the Woosters, Thank You, Jeeves and The Inimitable Jeeves.
- The Jeeves Omnibus 2
- 1990 Hutchinson. Carry On, Jeeves, Right Ho, Jeeves and Joy in the Morning.
- The Jeeves Omnibus 3
- 1991 Hutchinson. The Mating Season, Ring for Jeeves and Very Good, Jeeves.
- The Jeeves Omnibus 4
- 1992 Hutchinson. Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit, Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves and Jeeves in the Offing.
- The Jeeves Omnibus 5
- 1993 Hutchinson. Much Obliged, Jeeves, Aunts Aren't Gentlemen, Extricating Young Gussie, Jeeves Makes an Omelette and Jeeves and the Greasy Bird.
- Jeeves Takes Charge and other stories
- 1997 Bloomsbury. Early short Jeeves stories.
- Life at Blandings
- 1981 Penguin. Something Fresh, Heavy Weather and Summer Lightning.
- Life with Jeeves
- 1981 Penguin. Right Ho, Jeeves, The Inimitable Jeeves and Very Good, Jeeves.
- Lord Emsworth Acts for the Best
- 1992 Penguin. Short stories (probably all the Blandings shorts except The Crime Wave at Blandings).
- Mr. Mulliner Omnibus
- 1994 Hutchinson.
- The Most of P.G. Wodehouse
- 1960 Simon & Schuster. Quick Service and short stories.
- Mulliner Omnibus
- 1935 Herbert Jenkins. (864 pages)
- Nothing but Wodehouse
- 1932 Doubleday Doran (US), edited by Ogden Nash. Short stories - 6 from He Rather Enjoyed It, 7 from Mr. Mulliner Speaking and Meet Mr. Mulliner and 11 from Very Good, Jeeves.
- P.G. Wodehouse: Five Complete Novels
- 1995 Avenel (US). Ring for Jeeves, Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit, Spring Fever, Something Fishy and The Old Reliable.
- P. G. Wodehouse Short Stories
- 1983 Folio Society.
- Plum Stones - The Hidden P G Wodehouse
- 1993-5 Galahad Books.* Twelve booklets of short stories - see separate page for details.
- The Pothunters and Other School Stories
- 1985 Penguin.* The Pothunters, A Prefect's Tale and Tales of St. Austins.
- The Swoop and Other Stories
- Continuum Publishing Corp. See contents list.
- Tales from the Drones Club
- 1982 Hutchinson, 1991 International Polygonics. See contents list.
- Tales of Wrykyn and Elsewhere: Twenty-five Short Stories of School Life.*
- 1997. Short school stories, many previously unpublished in book form - see separate page for details.
- The Theatre Omnibus
- 1994 Hutchinson.* Bring on the Girls, Barmy in Wonderland, poems & short stories. See contents list.
- Uncle Fred: An Omnibus
- 1992 Penguin. Cocktail Time, Uncle Fred in the Springtime and Uncle Dynamite. (640 pages)
- The Uncollected Wodehouse
- 1976 Seabury/Continuum, 1992 International Polygonics Ltd*. A collection of magazine and newspaper articles and short stories. See separate page for more details.
- The Unknown Wodehouse Omnibus
- 1999 Hutchinson.
- Vintage Wodehouse
- 1978 Barrie & Jenkins, 1979 Penguin, 1995 Vintage. Short stories (39?).
- A Wodehouse Bestiary
- 1985 Ticknor & Fields, 1999 Mariner Books. 14 short stories. See contents list.
- Wodehouse on Crime: A Dozen Tales of Fiendish Cunning
- 1981 Tickner & Fields (US), 1992 Dover Publishing Co. See contents list.
- Wodehouse on Golf
- 1940 Doubleday, Doran. (Said to contain all the golf stories.)
- Wodehouse on Wodehouse
- 1980 Penguin.* Bring on the Girls, Performing Flea and Over Seventy.
- The World of Blandings
- 1976 Barrie & Jenkins. Something Fresh, Summer Lightning, The Custody of the Pumpkin, Lord Emsworth Acts for the Best and Pig-hoo-o-o-o-ey (plus one). (357 pages)
- The World of Blandings
- 1976 Hutchinson. (339 pages)
- The World of the Drones Club
- (No information - just a title.)
- The World of Jeeves
- 1967 Herbert Jenkins. (Possibly the Jeeves Omnibus re-published and re-named - see next entry.)
- The World of Jeeves
- 1976 Hutchinson. 34 short stories. (Expanded version of the Jeeves Omnibus.)
- The World of Mr. Mulliner
- 1972 Barrie & Jenkins (reprint of 1935 Mulliner Omnibus with additions), 1974 Taplinger.* Short stories. See contents list.
- The World of Mr. Mulliner
- 1999 Penguin. Short stories.
- The World of P G Wodehouse
- 1981 Penguin. The Code of the Woosters, Uncle Fred in the Springtime, Psmith in the City, Eggs Beans and Crumpets and Spring Fever.
- The World of Psmith
- 1993 Penguin. Psmith in the City, Psmith Journalist and Leave it to Psmith. Also 1974 Barrie and Jenkins, might be earlier edition.
- The World of Ukridge
- 1975 Barrie & Jenkins. Short stories.
- The World of Uncle Fred
- 1983 Hutchinson. Uncle Fred in the Springtime, Uncle Dynamite, Cocktail Time and Uncle Fred Flits By.
- The World of Wodehouse Clergy
- 1984 Hutchinson. 15 stories (no details) plus 5 extracts and 20 'nuggets'.
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Anthologies
The following are commentaries or anthologies rather than simple collections. They are likely to contain extracts of novels, some short stories, articles and commentaries. Fine if that's what you want.
- Plum Sauce
- by Richard Osbourne - 2002 Ebury Press
- Plum's Peaches: Women in Wodehouse
- 1994 Intellectual Polygonics.
- Weekend Wodehouse
- 1939 Doubleday, Doran (US). (700 pages). Same as below?
- Weekend Wodehouse
- 1939 (and 1951 *) Herbert Jenkins (introduced by Hilaire Belloc). See contents list.
- Weekend Wodehouse
- 1986 Hutchinson. Short stories plus extracts and non-fiction writings.
- What Ho!: The Best of P G Wodehouse
- 2001 Hutchinson.* Short stories, extracts and other items - see contents list.
- Wodehouse at the Wicket
- edited by Murray Hedgcock - 1997 Hutchinson. Cricket writings, poems, extracts from stories etc.
- Wodehouse is the Best Medicine
- International Polygonics Ltd.
- Wodehouse Nuggets: An Anthology
- edited by Richard Osbourne - 1983 Hutchinson, 1992 Vintage. Bits and pieces.
Not by Wodehouse
Warning - these might use Wodehouse's name or those of his characters but are by other authors.
- Jeeves, A Gentleman's Personal Gentleman
- by C. Northcote Parkinson - available on audio cassette.
Other titles
Books which do not fit into any other category.
- After Hours with P. G. Wodehouse
- 1991 James H. Heinemann. A collection of 15 articles and lectures by Richard Usborne about Wodehouse. (No Wodehouse works in the book.)
- The Plums of P. G. Wodehouse
- 1983 Folio Society. (I have no other information on this book.)
