# Is "Confessions of Zeno" by Italo Svevo a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Confessions of Zeno by Italo Svevo (Cappelli, Bologna, 1923) is identified by: The true first is the Italian edition, La coscienza di Zeno, published by Licinio Cappelli, Bologna, in 1923 (issued at the author's expense). Italian true first: Cappelli, Bologna, 1923.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first is the Italian edition, La coscienza di Zeno, published by Licinio Cappelli, Bologna, in 1923 (issued at the author's expense)
- The first English edition (Beryl de Zoete translation) was published by Putnam, London, 1930: octavo, original marbled grey cloth, backstrip and upper board lettered in green, with a green top edge and other edges roughly trimmed
- A separate first American edition followed the same year (New York — Alfred A. Knopf issue), so the London Putnam edition is the first appearance in English
- Publisher imprint reads Cappelli, Bologna
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Italo Svevo |
| Publisher | Cappelli, Bologna |
| Year | 1923 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first is the Italian edition, La coscienza di Zeno, published by Licinio Cappelli, Bologna, in 1923 (issued at the author's… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The true first is the Italian edition, La coscienza di Zeno, published by Licinio Cappelli, Bologna, in 1923 (issued at the author's expense). The first English edition (Beryl de Zoete translation) was published by Putnam, London, 1930: octavo, original marbled grey cloth, backstrip and upper board lettered in green, with a green top edge and other edges roughly trimmed. A separate first American edition followed the same year (New York — Alfred A. Knopf issue), so the London Putnam edition is the first appearance in English.

## Is this the true first?
Italian true first: Cappelli, Bologna, 1923. First in English: Putnam, London, 1930 (de Zoete) — the London edition precedes the American issue (Knopf, New York, 1930), so the census 'UK precedes US' holds. 'First thus' trap: the novel was much later retranslated by William Weaver as Zeno's Conscience (2001); modern editions under that title are not the de Zoete first English text.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club first is documented for the 1930 English edition. Later Secker & Warburg and New Directions reissues are 'first thus,' not the 1930 Putnam first, and the retitled Zeno's Conscience is a separate later translation.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Confessions of Zeno* by Italo Svevo a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/confessions-of-zeno
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.