Is My Every Man Dies Alone (Alone in Berlin) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Jeder stirbt für sich allein was published posthumously (Fallada died in February 1947) by Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin, in 1947, collating 539 pp and issued in half-linen (linen spine); postwar paper means age-browning is normal rather than a condition defect
• The decisive textual point is editorial: Aufbau's editor Paul Wiegler shortened the book and altered it in places for political reasons, apparently without the author's consent, and changed the character name Barkhausen to Borkhausen — the 1947 first edition reads 'Borkhausen'
• The uncut text taken from the surviving original manuscript was not published until Aufbau's new German edition in spring 2011, so any copy carrying the restored/ungekürzte text is by definition later

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. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. 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.
6. 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 German Aufbau edition of 1947 is the true first; no English translation existed until 2009. Both 2009 English firsts are collected and carry different titles from the same Michael Hofmann translation: Melville House, 'Every Man Dies Alone' (543 pp, afterword by Geoff Wilkes), and Penguin Classics, London, 'Alone in Berlin' (black cloth boards lettered in white to the spine, afterword by Geoff Wilkes plus facsimiles of the Hampel Gestapo file). Precedence between the two is NOT established: Wikipedia states Penguin licensed the book from Melville House, implying the US came first, while trade records date the Penguin UK hardback to early 2009 and Melville House to March 2009. Collect both; do not assert one over the other.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition documented for the 1947 Aufbau. Reprint tells: Aufbau's 2011 ungekürzte Neuausgabe and the later 'Neuausgabe der Fassung von 1947' are modern reissues, and the Borkhausen/Barkhausen reading distinguishes the 1947 edited text from restored later ones. Both 2009 English editions were followed quickly by paperbacks (Melville House 2010; Penguin Classics paperback January 2010), and the Penguin Modern Classics and film tie-in issues are later still.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Every Man Dies Alone (Alone in Berlin) a first edition?

A first edition of Every Man Dies Alone (Alone in Berlin) by Hans Fallada (Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin) is identified by: Jeder stirbt für sich allein was published posthumously (Fallada died in February 1947) by Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin, in 1947, collating 539 pp and issued in half-linen (linen spine); postwar paper means age-browning is normal rather than a condition defect.

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 German Aufbau edition of 1947 is the true first; no English translation existed until 2009.

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

No book-club edition documented for the 1947 Aufbau. Reprint tells: Aufbau's 2011 ungekürzte Neuausgabe and the later 'Neuausgabe der Fassung von 1947' are modern reissues, and the Borkhausen/Barkhausen reading distinguishes the 1947 edited text from restored later ones. Both 2009 English editions were followed quickly by paperbacks (Melville House 2010; Penguin Classics paperback January 2010), and the Penguin Modern Classics and film tie-in issues are later still.

I have a first edition of Every Man Dies Alone (Alone in Berlin) — 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.