2 Heinrich Böll first editions are documented on this shelf, from The Clown (Ansichten eines Clowns) (1965) to Group Portrait with Lady (Gruppenbild mit Dame) (1973). Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Heinrich Böll title from later printings and book-club copies — the publisher and year to expect, the number-line or edition-statement conventions, and the tells that show up in online listings.

Identification only, per the house rule: no prices and no appraisals here. Checking a Heinrich Böll copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.

The Clown (Ansichten eines Clowns) — 1965 · McGraw-HillFirst US edition in English, translated by Leila Vennewitz, published by McGraw-Hill, New York, 1965 (247 pp.), octavo. Bound in black cloth boards with gilt spine titling and issued in a pictorial dust jacket designed by Paul Bacon; the jacket's front flap should carry its original printed price. German original published as Ansichten eines Clowns by Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 1963. The first English-language edition is the McGraw-Hill US printing of 1965 (Vennewitz translation). A UK edition from Weidenfeld & Nicolson followed the same year. The true first overall is the German Kiepenheuer & Witsch edition of 1963. Later reprints and mass-market paperbacks are not the first edition; confirm the 1965 McGraw-Hill imprint on the title and copyright pages, and note that a McGraw-Hill second printing exists that is otherwise similar, so verify no later-printing statement is present.
Group Portrait with Lady (Gruppenbild mit Dame) — 1973 · McGraw-HillFirst US edition in English, translated by Leila Vennewitz, published by McGraw-Hill, New York, 1973, with first printing stated on the copyright page (later impressions note additional printings). 405 pages. First in English is the McGraw-Hill US edition of 1973 (Vennewitz translation), with the UK Martin Secker & Warburg edition also appearing in 1973. The German original was published by Kiepenheuer & Witsch in 1971. The novel was cited in connection with Böll's 1972 Nobel Prize. Later printings note additional impressions on the copyright page; no major US book-club premium attaches to the points here.

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