# Is "Fatelessness (Sorstalanság)" by Imre Kertész a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Fatelessness (Sorstalanság) by Imre Kertész (Szépirodalmi Könyvkiadó, 1975) 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. The collectible true first is the 1975 Hungarian Sorstalanság (Szépirodalmi Könyvkiadó, Budapest).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- 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
- Publisher imprint reads Szépirodalmi Könyvkiadó

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Imre Kertész |
| Publisher | Szépirodalmi Könyvkiadó |
| Year | 1975 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first is the 1975 Hungarian-language Sorstalanság, Szépirodalmi Könyvkiadó, Budapest, collating 291, |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
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. 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.

## 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."

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Fatelessness (Sorstalanság)* by Imre Kertész a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/fatelessness
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.