Is My Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung (The World as Will and Representation) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• A single volume, 8vo (recorded between approx
• 197 x 118 mm and 213 x 123 mm), collating xvi, 725, [1] errata, [2] blank pp
• F. A. Brockhaus, Leipzig; the title page is dated 1819 but the book was actually issued in December 1818, Schopenhauer having completed the text in March 1818 — the standard year-end post-dating, and the single most misquoted fact about the book
• The full title, 'Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung: vier Bücher, nebst einem Anhange, der die Kritik der Kantischen Philosophie enthält', states the structure of the first edition: four books plus the appendix criticising Kant, in 71 sections
• That single-volume, four-books-plus-appendix structure distinguishes the first at a glance from the two-volume 1844 second
• Issued in plain German boards; copies are recorded in contemporary grey to grey-black boards with a red spine title label

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 census claim is confirmed, with one nuance it omits: the German first is F. A. Brockhaus, Leipzig, title page 1819 but published December 1818, and it is the only edition with precedence — there is no earlier or simultaneous foreign edition. The 1844 Brockhaus second is not a simple reprint and is collected in its own right: it is in two volumes, vol. I a revised text of the 1819 and vol. II entirely new supplementary essays appearing for the first time, so it is the first edition of vol. II. The 1859 third edition is further enlarged. First English: 'The World as Will and Idea', translated by R. B. Haldane and J. Kemp, 3 vols, Trübner & Co., London, 1883-86 — the census's imprint and dates are confirmed. That Trübner set is the first English edition proper, not a 'first thus', and is the edition collected by those taking the work in English.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue applies to an 1819 Leipzig imprint. The live traps are the enlarged 1844 two-volume Brockhaus second and the 1859 Brockhaus third — both easily miscatalogued as 'the first edition' because vol. I carries the 1819 text in revised form; the volume count settles it, the first being a single volume. The modern Meiner 'Kritische Jubiläumsausgabe der ersten Auflage von 1819', which reprints the first-edition text with Schopenhauer's hand-copy additions, is a scholarly reissue and 'first thus' only despite its title.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung (The World as Will and Representation) a first edition?

A first edition of Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung (The World as Will and Representation) by Arthur Schopenhauer (F. A. Brockhaus, Leipzig) is identified by: A single volume, 8vo (recorded between 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 census claim is confirmed, with one nuance it omits: the German first is F.

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

No book-club issue applies to an 1819 Leipzig imprint. The live traps are the enlarged 1844 two-volume Brockhaus second and the 1859 Brockhaus third — both easily miscatalogued as 'the first edition' because vol. I carries the 1819 text in revised form; the volume count settles it, the first being a single volume. The modern Meiner 'Kritische Jubiläumsausgabe der ersten Auflage von 1819', which reprints the first-edition text with Schopenhauer's hand-copy additions, is a scholarly reissue and 'f

I have a first edition of Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung (The World as Will and Representation) — 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.