Is My Hunger (Sult) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The true first is the 1890 P.G. Philipsens Forlag (Copenhagen) printing, octavo, 333 pp
• (collating [4], 333, [1]), published 2 June 1890 in a first print run of 2,100 copies
• It was issued simultaneously in two formats: a cheaper stitched/paperbound issue (heftet) and a publisher's cloth binding (forlagsbind)
• Hamsun asked for a black binding, but the publisher's cloth was actually issued in several colors — red, green, yellow, and blue — so "red cloth" is only one of the variant bindings, not a diagnostic point; many surviving copies are also in later owner-supplied bindings (e.g. contemporary half sheep and marbled boards), which are not the publisher's issue
• The title page reads København / P.G. Philipsens Forlag / 1890
• Note that although Hamsun was Norwegian, this Dano-Norwegian text was published through a Copenhagen house, so the true first carries a Danish (Copenhagen) imprint rather than a Norwegian one — a point that confuses buyers

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. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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 true first edition is the original-language 1890 Sult, P.G. Philipsens Forlag, Copenhagen (Dano-Norwegian text). The first English-language edition is Hunger, translated by George Egerton (pseudonym of Mary Chavelita Dunne), published by Leonard Smithers and Co., London, 1899 — publisher's grey cloth stamped in black, octavo, collating x, 312 pp. plus publisher's ads. This Smithers issue also exists in original printed wrappers, which are far scarcer than the cloth (one dealer, Biblioctopus, records only a single wrappers copy in auction records over roughly the last 85 years — a scarcity claim that applies to the 1899 English wrappers issue, NOT to the 1890 Norwegian first). English-speaking collectors should note the 1899 Smithers Egerton translation is the first in English (nine years after the Norwegian original), distinct from the later widely reprinted Knopf issues of the same Egerton translation and from the modern Robert Bly (1967) and Sverre Lyngstad (1996) translations.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No significant book-club edition is a common trap for the original 1890 Sult, which is a genuinely scarce Scandinavian first. The traps here are different: (1) Hamsun's later revised Norwegian/Danish editions and Gyldendal reprintings (revisions in 1899, 1907, 1916) being mistaken for the 1890 first — verify the P.G. Philipsens Forlag, Copenhagen, 1890 imprint and the 333-pp. collation; (2) later owner rebindings (half sheep, marbled boards) being taken for a publisher's issue, and any single cloth color (red, green, yellow, or blue) being treated as THE first binding when the publisher issued several; and (3) for the English, later Knopf printings of the Egerton translation (the sixth printing of May 1921 and after was censored for sexual content, reduced from 266 to 263 pp.) being taken for the 1899 Leonard Smithers first English edition. Always confirm the Smithers, London, 1899 imprint for the English first.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Hunger (Sult) a first edition?

A first edition of Hunger (Sult) by Knut Hamsun (P.G. Philipsens Forlag) is identified by: The true first is the 1890 P.G.

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 true first edition is the original-language 1890 Sult, P.G.

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

No significant book-club edition is a common trap for the original 1890 Sult, which is a genuinely scarce Scandinavian first. The traps here are different: (1) Hamsun's later revised Norwegian/Danish editions and Gyldendal reprintings (revisions in 1899, 1907, 1916) being mistaken for the 1890 first — verify the P.G. Philipsens Forlag, Copenhagen, 1890 imprint and the 333-pp. collation; (2) later owner rebindings (half sheep, marbled boards) being taken for a publisher's issue, and any single cl

I have a first edition of Hunger (Sult) — 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.