Is My Kristin Lavransdatter (Kransen / Husfrue / Korset) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The signature work is the medieval trilogy Kristin Lavransdatter, and the true first is the three original-language Norwegian volumes from H. Aschehoug & Co. in Kristiania (Oslo): Kransen
• , Husfrue
• , and Korset
• — a collector wants all three in first printings, with volume one (Kransen, 1920) the cornerstone
• The decisive point of issue is Aschehoug's printing-run ("tusen"/thousand) convention: the true first printing carries the 1920 title-page date and does NOT state an elevated thousand-count; later impressions are marked with a printing statement such as "femte tusen" (5th thousand) or "40 tusen." Kransen was a runaway success and was reprinted heavily within a couple of years (dealer copies dated 1923 already state "40 tusen"), so any copy showing a high thousand-count or a post-1920 title-page date is a later printing, not the first
• The volumes appeared in Aschehoug's publisher's cloth of the period (dealer copies of the era show cloth lettered in gilt); note that later thousand-count reprints appear in both cloth and printed wrappers, so binding alone does not establish priority — the title-page year and absence of a thousand-count statement do

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. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. 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.
4. Verify this is the British true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. 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.
6. 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 is the Norwegian-language original from H. Aschehoug & Co., Kristiania: Kransen (1920), Husfrue (1921), Korset (1922) — this is what serious collectors pursue. The first English-language edition was translated by Charles Archer and J. S. Scott (Scott collaborating only on the first volume) and published in the U.S. by Alfred A. Knopf, New York, in three volumes: The Bridal Wreath (Knopf, 1923; copyright "1923, by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc." per the transcribed title/copyright page), The Mistress of Husaby (1925), and The Cross (1927). The 1923 Knopf The Bridal Wreath is the first English printing of the trilogy's opening volume; British/one-volume and later Knopf issues followed in the 1920s–the printed price, so the New York Knopf volumes precede them.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Watch for cheap later reprints masquerading as significant. Aschehoug reprinted the Norwegian text heavily (thousand-counts running into the tens of thousands), and there are one-volume Norwegian "Kristin Lavransdatter" collected editions and Nobel-era reprints — none of these are the 1920–22 first. On the English side, the Knopf translation was reprinted for decades and cheaply reprinted by Grosset & Dunlap "by arrangement with Alfred A. Knopf" (the widely digitized Project Gutenberg text of The Bridal Wreath is from a Grosset & Dunlap reprint — its title page reads "GROSSET & DUNLAP PUBLISHERS by arrangement with Alfred A. Knopf" while retaining the 1923 Knopf copyright — not the 1923 Knopf first); a Grosset & Dunlap imprint or any elevated Knopf printing statement marks a reprint. The three-volumes-in-one omnibus editions (e.g., later collected volumes, and modern Penguin/Vintage sets with the Tiina Nunnally translation) are reader editions, not first printings. No true "book-club edition" issue is prominent for the original Norwegian first; the main traps are later Aschehoug thousand-count printings and post-1923 English reprints (notably the Grosset & Dunlap issue).

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Kristin Lavransdatter (Kransen / Husfrue / Korset) a first edition?

A first edition of Kristin Lavransdatter (Kransen / Husfrue / Korset) by Sigrid Undset (H. Aschehoug & Co.) is identified by: The signature work is the medieval trilogy Kristin Lavransdatter, and the true first is the three original-language Norwegian volumes from H.

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 is the Norwegian-language original from H.

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

Watch for cheap later reprints masquerading as significant. Aschehoug reprinted the Norwegian text heavily (thousand-counts running into the tens of thousands), and there are one-volume Norwegian "Kristin Lavransdatter" collected editions and Nobel-era reprints — none of these are the 1920–22 first. On the English side, the Knopf translation was reprinted for decades and cheaply reprinted by Grosset & Dunlap "by arrangement with Alfred A. Knopf" (the widely digitized Project Gutenberg text of Th

I have a first edition of Kristin Lavransdatter (Kransen / Husfrue / Korset) — 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.