# Is "Growth of the Soil" by Knut Hamsun a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Growth of the Soil by Knut Hamsun (Gyldendal, 1917) is identified by: True first is the Norwegian 'Markens Grøde' (Gyldendalske Boghandel, Kristiania, 1917), issued in two volumes. Original-language true first is the Norwegian 'Markens Grøde' (Kristiania, 1917, 2 vols).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first is the Norwegian 'Markens Grøde' (Gyldendalske Boghandel, Kristiania, 1917), issued in two volumes
- The first edition in English, translated by W. W. Worster, was published by Gyldendal in London in 1920 (dated 27 April 1920) as a single octavo volume in grass-green cloth/boards lettered in black, 406 pp.; this London 1920 printing is the true first in English and precedes the first American
- Alfred A. Knopf issued the first American in New York in 1921 in two volumes (copyright dated 25 February 1921), bound in navy-blue cloth lettered in red with red/green border decoration
- Multiple independent ABAA descriptions (Bauman, Mullen, Doull) confirm the London 1920 issue precedes the Knopf 1921 issue
- Publisher imprint reads Gyldendal
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Knut Hamsun |
| Publisher | Gyldendal |
| Year | 1917 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | True first is the Norwegian 'Markens Grøde' (Gyldendalske Boghandel, Kristiania, 1917), issued in two volumes |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
True first is the Norwegian 'Markens Grøde' (Gyldendalske Boghandel, Kristiania, 1917), issued in two volumes. The first edition in English, translated by W. W. Worster, was published by Gyldendal in London in 1920 (dated 27 April 1920) as a single octavo volume in grass-green cloth/boards lettered in black, 406 pp.; this London 1920 printing is the true first in English and precedes the first American. Alfred A. Knopf issued the first American in New York in 1921 in two volumes (copyright dated 25 February 1921), bound in navy-blue cloth lettered in red with red/green border decoration. Multiple independent ABAA descriptions (Bauman, Mullen, Doull) confirm the London 1920 issue precedes the Knopf 1921 issue.

## Is this the true first?
Original-language true first is the Norwegian 'Markens Grøde' (Kristiania, 1917, 2 vols). Among English editions the London Gyldendal 1920 (Worster) is the true first and precedes the New York Knopf 1921 first American — the reverse of the usual US/UK sequence, driven by Hamsun's 1920 Nobel Prize; both the London 1920 single volume and the Knopf 1921 two-volume set are collected.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Some copies of the Gyldendal London printing are catalogued as 1921; the 27 April 1920 issue is the first English. The Worster translation was reprinted repeatedly by Knopf (later single-volume and subsequent impressions) — these retain the text but lack the 1920 London / two-volume 1921 Knopf points. No prominent book-club issue is documented for the first English.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Growth of the Soil* by Knut Hamsun a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/growth-of-the-soil
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.