# Is "On War (Vom Kriege)" by Carl von Clausewitz a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of On War (Vom Kriege) by Carl von Clausewitz (Ferdinand Dümmler, 1832) is identified by: True first (German): Berlin, printed by Trowitzsch and son for Ferdinand Dümmler. Census claim confirmed.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first (German): Berlin, printed by Trowitzsch and son for Ferdinand Dümmler
- Vom Kriege occupies volumes 1-3 of the posthumous ten-volume Hinterlassene Werke des Generals Carl von Clausewitz über Krieg und Kriegführung, the three volumes appearing 1832-34 and the full ten-volume set running 1832-37; octavo (approx
- 202 x 120 mm), the complete set containing two folding engraved maps and one folding table
- The work was published posthumously by Clausewitz's widow, Marie von Clausewitz, whose preface is a feature of the first
- Reference: PMM 297
- First English: Colonel J. J. Graham's translation, London, N. Trübner, 1873, three volumes — the first full English translation, made from the third German edition
- Publisher imprint reads Ferdinand Dümmler

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Carl von Clausewitz |
| Publisher | Ferdinand Dümmler |
| Year | 1832 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | True first (German): Berlin, printed by Trowitzsch and son for Ferdinand Dümmler |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
True first (German): Berlin, printed by Trowitzsch and son for Ferdinand Dümmler. Vom Kriege occupies volumes 1-3 of the posthumous ten-volume Hinterlassene Werke des Generals Carl von Clausewitz über Krieg und Kriegführung, the three volumes appearing 1832-34 and the full ten-volume set running 1832-37; octavo (approx. 202 x 120 mm), the complete set containing two folding engraved maps and one folding table. The work was published posthumously by Clausewitz's widow, Marie von Clausewitz, whose preface is a feature of the first. Reference: PMM 297. First English: Colonel J. J. Graham's translation, London, N. Trübner, 1873, three volumes — the first full English translation, made from the third German edition. Documented caution on the Graham: only 254 copies were printed in 1873 and Trübner ran a further 440 copies in 1877; the consulted sources do not document how the 1877 run is distinguished from the 1873 sheets, so treat any Graham set as requiring title-page date verification.

## Is this the true first?
Census claim confirmed. The Dümmler German text is the true first and the original-language edition; the 1832-34 volumes 1-3 constitute the first edition of Vom Kriege proper, with volumes 4-10 containing Clausewitz's separate campaign studies rather than On War. Both are collected: the Berlin Dümmler original, and Graham's 1873 Trübner three-volume London edition as the first appearance in English.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue applies to a work of this date. The principal trap is scope: Vom Kriege is volumes 1-3 only, and sets or single volumes from the Hinterlassene Werke are sometimes offered as 'On War, first edition' when they are in fact campaign volumes (vol. 4 Italien 1796; vols. 5-6 Italien und der Schweiz 1799; vol. 7 Rußland 1812/1813/Frankreich 1814; vol. 8 Frankreich 1815; vols. 9-10 Gustav Adolph, Turenne, Luxemburg). Conversely, the complete ten-volume set is the full first edition of the Werke. Later German editions from the third onward carry editorial alterations to the text, so the 1832-34 volumes are the only unaltered state.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *On War (Vom Kriege)* by Carl von Clausewitz a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/on-war-vom-kriege
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.