Is My Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (The Sorrows of Young Werther) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Published anonymously at Leipzig for the autumn 1774 book fair: two parts in one volume, 224 pages, small 8vo (approx
• 16.5 x 10 cm), with an engraved title vignette associated with Adam Friedrich Oeser
• The decisive test is the final page (p
• 224): the first printing carries the errata list (Druckfehlerverzeichnis), which the second printing replaces with a woodcut vignette — described by German dealers as a scythe with a winged hourglass
• The first printing also shows the uncorrected page number 36 where 39 is called for
• Copies vary at pp

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. 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.
5. 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?

The Leipzig 1774 German original is the true first; everything else is a translation or a later authorial revision. The title itself is a precedence point: the 1774 first edition reads 'Die Leiden des jungen Werthers' with the genitive -s, while Goethe's substantially revised second version (Göschen, Leipzig, 1787) drops it to 'Leiden des jungen Werther' and is a different text, not a reprint. The first edition in English — 'The Sorrows of Werter: A German Story' (London: printed for J. Dodsley, 1779), two volumes in one — was made from a French intermediary rather than from Goethe's German, and is attributed to Daniel Malthus, though Richard Graves has also been proposed; it is collected as the first edition in English, not as a first edition of the work.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issues exist for this title. Weygand's authorised second edition ('Zweyte ächte Auflage', Leipzig, 1775) followed, and unauthorised reprints appeared quickly — among them Christian Friedrich Himburg's Berlin piracy of 1779, which already carries alterations to the authorised 1774/75 text. A Weygand-style Leipzig imprint therefore proves nothing on its own: apply the errata-versus-vignette test at p. 224. Twentieth-century facsimile reprints of the 1774 setting are common and are frequently mistaken for the original.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (The Sorrows of Young Werther) a first edition?

A first edition of Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (The Sorrows of Young Werther) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (Weygandsche Buchhandlung) is identified by: Published anonymously at Leipzig for the autumn 1774 book fair: two parts in one volume, 224 pages, small 8vo (approx.

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. The Leipzig 1774 German original is the true first; everything else is a translation or a later authorial revision.

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

No book-club issues exist for this title. Weygand's authorised second edition ('Zweyte ächte Auflage', Leipzig, 1775) followed, and unauthorised reprints appeared quickly — among them Christian Friedrich Himburg's Berlin piracy of 1779, which already carries alterations to the authorised 1774/75 text. A Weygand-style Leipzig imprint therefore proves nothing on its own: apply the errata-versus-vignette test at p. 224. Twentieth-century facsimile reprints of the 1774 setting are common and are fre

I have a first edition of Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (The Sorrows of Young Werther) — 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.