# Is "Hedda Gabler" by Henrik Ibsen (translated by Edmund Gosse) a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen (translated by Edmund Gosse) (William Heinemann, 1891) is identified by: Title page reads "Hedda Gabler. To secure British copyright, Heinemann had already privately printed the Norwegian-language text in London in an edition of only 12 copies on 11 December 1890, technically preceding the January 1891 Gosse translation; that copyright-only Norwegian printing is not what is meant by "the first edition in English." William Archer worked with Gosse on the acting version used for the 20 April 1891 Vaudeville Theatre premiere (Elizabeth Robins and Marion Lea), but the published book translation credits Gosse alone.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Title page reads "Hedda Gabler
- A Drama in Four Acts... Translated from the Norwegian by Edmund Gosse," William Heinemann, London, published 20 January 1891 — the first edition in English
- Small quarto, with a photogravure portrait frontispiece of Ibsen; the ordinary issue was bound in illustrated white French-paper-wrapped covers, uncut
- A large-paper issue limited to 100 numbered copies was published simultaneously, adding photomezzotype plates of Elizabeth Robins and Marion Lea in their Vaudeville Theatre roles; a separate ordinary trade edition in cloth, duodecimo, also appeared the same year
- Publisher imprint reads William Heinemann
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Henrik Ibsen (translated by Edmund Gosse) |
| Publisher | William Heinemann |
| Year | 1891 |
| True first | British edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Title page reads "Hedda Gabler |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Title page reads "Hedda Gabler. A Drama in Four Acts... Translated from the Norwegian by Edmund Gosse," William Heinemann, London, published 20 January 1891 — the first edition in English. Small quarto, with a photogravure portrait frontispiece of Ibsen; the ordinary issue was bound in illustrated white French-paper-wrapped covers, uncut. A large-paper issue limited to 100 numbered copies was published simultaneously, adding photomezzotype plates of Elizabeth Robins and Marion Lea in their Vaudeville Theatre roles; a separate ordinary trade edition in cloth, duodecimo, also appeared the same year.

## Is this the true first?
To secure British copyright, Heinemann had already privately printed the Norwegian-language text in London in an edition of only 12 copies on 11 December 1890, technically preceding the January 1891 Gosse translation; that copyright-only Norwegian printing is not what is meant by "the first edition in English." William Archer worked with Gosse on the acting version used for the 20 April 1891 Vaudeville Theatre premiere (Elizabeth Robins and Marion Lea), but the published book translation credits Gosse alone.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Hedda Gabler* by Henrik Ibsen (translated by Edmund Gosse) a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/hedda-gabler
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.