Is My Fatelessness (Sorstalanság) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The true first is the 1975 Hungarian-language Sorstalanság, Szépirodalmi Könyvkiadó, Budapest, collating 291,
• pp in a sewn stiff paper-board binding (fűzött kemény papírkötés), roughly 19 cm tall, printed by the Nyomdaipari Szakmunkásképző Intézet, with an original illustrated dust jacket carrying Kertész's black-and-white photographic portrait on the front flap; the cover/binding was designed by Engel Tevan István
• Hungarian antiquarian catalog records label it "Első kiadás" (first edition)
• The practical tells are physical: the intact illustrated jacket with the author-portrait flap, and a colophon/copyright page showing only the single Szépirodalmi imprint and 1975 date, with no later publisher (Magvető) name or reprint statement
• Because the manuscript had been rejected by Magvető and appeared only as a modest single run from a state house, jacketed fine copies are scarce, and a missing or clipped jacket is the chief condition fault buyers check
• Note: some catalog records cite ISBN 963-150-292-9, but sources disagree (Hungarian Wikipedia gives a different number) and ISBN printing on Hungarian state-house books circa 1975 was inconsistent, so an ISBN is NOT a reliable first-issue point here

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 UK 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 collectible true first is the 1975 Hungarian Sorstalanság (Szépirodalmi Könyvkiadó, Budapest). English-speaking collectors should note there are TWO distinct English translations and they are not interchangeable: the FIRST English edition is Fateless, translated by Christopher C. Wilson and Katharina M. Wilson, published by Northwestern University Press (Evanston, IL) in 1992 (hardcover ISBN 0-8101-1024-5; paperback 0-8101-1049-0) — the genuine first English-language appearance, but a version Kertész publicly criticized (he told The Journal News he "really tried to protest against the first translations, but I found complete rejection"). The later, now-preferred/canonical English translation is Fatelessness by Tim Wilkinson (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2004; first UK edition The Harvill Press, London, 2005), which appeared around his 2002 Nobel Prize. So "first English" = 1992 Fateless (Northwestern); "the reading/collecting standard" = 2004 Fatelessness (Wilkinson).

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

There is no notable book-club edition of the Hungarian first; the real trap is edition/translation conflation. Later Hungarian reprints exist under Szépirodalmi (a second edition appeared in 1985) and, from the late 1990s, under Magvető (which became the author's Hungarian publisher; e.g., a 1999 Magvető edition) — these carry different dates/imprints (and different ISBNs) and are NOT the 1975 first. On the English side, the Northwestern 1992 Fateless was reprinted (including later paperbacks), and the post-Nobel 2004 Knopf Fatelessness saw large trade and later Vintage International printings; a Knopf copy with a "First Edition" statement and a number line ending in 1 marks that translation's true first, but it is still a translation, not the original first edition. Watch especially for post-2002 Nobel-driven reprints of the Hungarian text sold as "firsts."

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Fatelessness (Sorstalanság) a first edition?

A first edition of Fatelessness (Sorstalanság) by Imre Kertész (Szépirodalmi Könyvkiadó) is identified by: The true first is the 1975 Hungarian-language Sorstalanság, Szépirodalmi Könyvkiadó, Budapest, collating 291, (3) pp in a sewn stiff paper-board binding (fűzött kemény papírkötés), roughly 19 cm tall, printed by the Nyomdaipari Szakmunkásképző Intézet, with an original illustrated dust jacket carrying Kertész's black-and-white photographic portrait on the front flap; the cover/binding was designed by Engel Tevan István.

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 collectible true first is the 1975 Hungarian Sorstalanság (Szépirodalmi Könyvkiadó, Budapest).

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

There is no notable book-club edition of the Hungarian first; the real trap is edition/translation conflation. Later Hungarian reprints exist under Szépirodalmi (a second edition appeared in 1985) and, from the late 1990s, under Magvető (which became the author's Hungarian publisher; e.g., a 1999 Magvető edition) — these carry different dates/imprints (and different ISBNs) and are NOT the 1975 first. On the English side, the Northwestern 1992 Fateless was reprinted (including later paperbacks),

I have a first edition of Fatelessness (Sorstalanság) — 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.