Is My Bambi (Bambi: Eine Lebensgeschichte aus dem Walde) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The true first is the German-language "Bambi: Eine Lebensgeschichte aus dem Walde", Ullstein Verlag, Berlin, 1923, following serialisation in the Vienna newspaper Neue Freie Presse from 15 August to 21 October 1922
• Dealers describe the original binding as quarter light blue cloth over pictorial boards printed with a watercolour forest scene, the spine lettered in blue, with a red top edge; the 1923 Ullstein text is unillustrated
• Copies of the 1923 are scarce for a documented reason rather than a market one: the book was banned in Nazi Germany in 1935 as a political allegory on the treatment of Jews in Europe, and copies were burned
• FOR THE FIRST ENGLISH: Simon & Schuster, New York, 1928, translated by Whittaker Chambers with a foreword by John Galsworthy and illustrated by Kurt Wiese (frontispiece and 25 plates), 209 pp., green cloth lettered in gilt, with a vignette title page printed in black and green; the trade issue's title-page verso reads "First printing in America, July 1928", and later printings do not carry that line
• One point to check before calling any 1928 Simon & Schuster copy the first English printing: ABAA dealers record a limited issue of 1,000 copies carrying a limitation leaf that PRECEDES the S&S trade issue, so the limitation leaf, not the July 1928 statement, is the senior point in English

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
4. Verify this is the UK true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
6. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

Original-language precedence, and the census claim is correct: the German Ullstein (Berlin) 1923 is the true first. Both English editions are translations and both are collected in their own right, so both should be named. Simon & Schuster (New York, 1928) precedes Jonathan Cape (London, 1928), which makes the Simon & Schuster the first edition in English and the Cape the first UK edition; the Chambers translation and Galsworthy foreword are common to both. Anglophone catalogues and dealers very frequently list the 1928 Simon & Schuster as "the first edition" of Bambi — that is a first-in-English, not the true first, and it is the standard trap on this title.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted. The dominant reprint population is post-1942, driven by the Walt Disney film: any copy carrying Disney artwork, film credit, or film tie-in wording is a reprint and unrelated to either 1923 or 1928. On Simon & Schuster copies, the absence of the "First printing in America, July 1928" statement on the title-page verso indicates a later printing. On German copies, later Ullstein and post-war reissues (the novel was republished in Vienna in 1926) are not the 1923 Berlin first.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Bambi (Bambi: Eine Lebensgeschichte aus dem Walde) a first edition?

A first edition of Bambi (Bambi: Eine Lebensgeschichte aus dem Walde) by Felix Salten (Ullstein) is identified by: The true first is the German-language "Bambi: Eine Lebensgeschichte aus dem Walde", Ullstein Verlag, Berlin, 1923, following serialisation in the Vienna newspaper Neue Freie Presse from 15 August to 21 October 1922.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. Original-language precedence, and the census claim is correct: the German Ullstein (Berlin) 1923 is the true first.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

No book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted. The dominant reprint population is post-1942, driven by the Walt Disney film: any copy carrying Disney artwork, film credit, or film tie-in wording is a reprint and unrelated to either 1923 or 1928. On Simon & Schuster copies, the absence of the "First printing in America, July 1928" statement on the title-page verso indicates a later printing. On German copies, later Ullstein and post-war reissues (the novel was republished in Vienna in

I have a first edition of Bambi (Bambi: Eine Lebensgeschichte aus dem Walde) — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.