# Is "Independent People (Sjálfstætt fólk)" by Halldór Laxness a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Independent People (Sjálfstætt fólk) by Halldór Laxness (Reykjavík, 1934) is identified by: Icelandic first edition, published in Reykjavík in two parts: Part I (Sjálfstætt fólk: Landnámsmaður Íslands) in 1934 and Part II (Erfiðir tímar) in 1935. The Icelandic original is the true first (two parts, 1934 and 1935).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Icelandic first edition, published in Reykjavík in two parts: Part I (Sjálfstætt fólk: Landnámsmaður Íslands) in 1934 and Part II (Erfiðir tímar) in 1935
- The true first is the original two-part Icelandic issue in publisher's wrappers/cloth bearing the 1934 and 1935 imprints
- Publisher imprint reads Reykjavík
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Halldór Laxness |
| Publisher | Reykjavík |
| Year | 1934 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Icelandic first edition, published in Reykjavík in two parts: Part I (Sjálfstætt fólk: Landnámsmaður Íslands) in 1934 and Part II (Erfiðir… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Icelandic first edition, published in Reykjavík in two parts: Part I (Sjálfstætt fólk: Landnámsmaður Íslands) in 1934 and Part II (Erfiðir tímar) in 1935. The true first is the original two-part Icelandic issue in publisher's wrappers/cloth bearing the 1934 and 1935 imprints.

## Is this the true first?
The Icelandic original is the true first (two parts, 1934 and 1935). The first English edition (US Knopf, 1946, translated by J. A. Thompson) is the English first thus and the most-collected by Western buyers.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The single-volume English Knopf 1946 edition is not the world first. Later Icelandic reprints are single-volume and post-date the original two-part issue.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Independent People (Sjálfstætt fólk)* by Halldór Laxness a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/independent-people-sj-lfst-tt-f-lk
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.