# Is "Embers" by Sándor Márai a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Embers by Sándor Márai (Révai, Budapest, 1942) is identified by: The true first is A gyertyák csonkig égnek, Révai, Budapest, 1942, 210 pages, in publisher's cloth (vászon) within the series 'Márai Sándor munkái'; Hungarian antiquarian cataloguing records the Révai imprint together with 'Révai nyomása' (Révai printing) and the series statement, and these — with the 210-page collation — are the identification. Hungarian is the true first (Révai, Budapest, 1942), preceding the English by fifty-nine years.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first is A gyertyák csonkig égnek, Révai, Budapest, 1942, 210 pages, in publisher's cloth (vászon) within the series 'Márai Sándor munkái'
- Hungarian antiquarian cataloguing records the Révai imprint together with 'Révai nyomása' (Révai printing) and the series statement, and these — with the 210-page collation — are the identification
- The first edition in English is Embers, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2001 (published 2 October 2001), translated by Carol Brown Janeway not from the Hungarian but from the German intermediary, Die Glut (Piper, Munich, 1999)
- Knopf firsts of this period state 'First American Edition' on the copyright page with the Borzoi colophon and no later-printing statement; the jacket should be present and unclipped with the price at the flap
- A Knopf advance reading copy / 'Advanced Reader's Edition' in pictorial wrappers, issued without a jacket and sometimes with a review card laid in, is recorded and is not the first edition
- Publisher imprint reads Révai, Budapest
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Sándor Márai |
| Publisher | Révai, Budapest |
| Year | 1942 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first is A gyertyák csonkig égnek, Révai, Budapest, 1942, 210 pages, in publisher's cloth (vászon) within the series 'Márai Sándor… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The true first is A gyertyák csonkig égnek, Révai, Budapest, 1942, 210 pages, in publisher's cloth (vászon) within the series 'Márai Sándor munkái'; Hungarian antiquarian cataloguing records the Révai imprint together with 'Révai nyomása' (Révai printing) and the series statement, and these — with the 210-page collation — are the identification. The first edition in English is Embers, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2001 (published 2 October 2001), translated by Carol Brown Janeway not from the Hungarian but from the German intermediary, Die Glut (Piper, Munich, 1999). Knopf firsts of this period state 'First American Edition' on the copyright page with the Borzoi colophon and no later-printing statement; the jacket should be present and unclipped with the price at the flap. A Knopf advance reading copy / 'Advanced Reader's Edition' in pictorial wrappers, issued without a jacket and sometimes with a review card laid in, is recorded and is not the first edition.

## Is this the true first?
Hungarian is the true first (Révai, Budapest, 1942), preceding the English by fifty-nine years. For English the US precedes: Knopf, New York, 2001, followed by the first UK edition from Viking (Penguin Books Ltd), London, 2002, bound in black or midnight-blue cloth with gilt author and title lettering to the spine and an illustrated dust wrapper — both the Knopf and the Viking are collected. The German Die Glut (Piper, Munich, 1999) is the edition that triggered the international rediscovery and is the text Janeway actually worked from, which makes it a meaningful collecting point in its own right, though not a 'first' of the work.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue is documented for the Révai 1942 or the Knopf 2001. One caution on the Hungarian first: at least one auction house catalogues a '1942, Helikon' first edition, which conflicts with the Révai imprint recorded by Hungarian Wikipedia and by antikvarium.hu — Helikon (Budapest) is the publisher of the standard modern Márai reprints, so treat any 'Helikon 1942' attribution as unconfirmed and check the title page. The Vintage International paperback (ISBN 0-375-70742-5) is the common American reprint and is frequently offered as a first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Embers* by Sándor Márai a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/embers
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.