# Is "Death in Venice (Der Tod in Venedig)" by Thomas Mann a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Death in Venice (Der Tod in Venedig) by Thomas Mann (Hans von Weber, Hyperionverlag, 1912) is identified by: The first appearance in book form is the deluxe Hans von Weber Hyperion edition (Munich, 1912), issued in 100 numbered copies as one of von Weber's Hundertdrucke and printed on special paper. German is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The first appearance in book form is the deluxe Hans von Weber Hyperion edition (Munich, 1912), issued in 100 numbered copies as one of von Weber's Hundertdrucke and printed on special paper
- This limited issue appeared shortly after the text completed its serial run
- The ordinary S. Fischer trade edition followed in 1913, not 1912
- Publisher imprint reads Hans von Weber, Hyperionverlag
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Thomas Mann |
| Publisher | Hans von Weber, Hyperionverlag |
| Year | 1912 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The first appearance in book form is the deluxe Hans von Weber Hyperion edition (Munich, 1912), issued in 100 numbered copies as one of von… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The first appearance in book form is the deluxe Hans von Weber Hyperion edition (Munich, 1912), issued in 100 numbered copies as one of von Weber's Hundertdrucke and printed on special paper. This limited issue appeared shortly after the text completed its serial run. The ordinary S. Fischer trade edition followed in 1913, not 1912.

## Is this the true first?
German is the true first. The text first appeared serially in Die Neue Rundschau (S. Fischer) in the October and November 1912 issues, which constitute the first periodical appearance. The von Weber Hyperion limited (1912, 100 numbered copies) is the first book appearance; the S. Fischer trade book edition is 1913. First English appeared from Knopf in 1925 in Death in Venice and Other Stories (trans. Kenneth Burke), later in the H. T. Lowe-Porter translation.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Common S. Fischer trade printings (from 1913 onward) and later collected-works printings are not the 1912 limited true first. English translations are separate firsts thus. Confirm the printed numbered-limitation statement when identifying a von Weber copy.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Death in Venice (Der Tod in Venedig)* by Thomas Mann a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/death-in-venice-der-tod-in-venedig
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.