Is My Peer Gynt (Peer Gynt: Et dramatisk Digt) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Published 14 November 1867 in a first impression of 1,250 copies
• Collates 4 + 259 pp.: 17 sheets folded in octavo, leaf ca
• 110 x 170 mm, signature marks 1-17 carrying the line "Henrik Ibsen : Peer Gynt." on pp
• 1, 17, 33, 49, 65, 81, 97, 113, 129, 145, 161, 177, 193, 209, 225, 241 and 257; the last sheet has only two leaves
• Text is set in antikva (roman), the title in centred majuscules, the divisional title and cast list in a different face from the text; the title leaf (blank verso) and the following divisional title with the cast list on the verso are NOT included in the pagination, because Hegel deliberately held the preliminary leaves back until Ibsen had finished sending copy
• Issued in green printed wrappers (Schiøtz & Ringstrom 2006, 168, cited by HIS); most surviving copies are rebound and show only traces of the green wrapper in the inner margins of the title leaf and last leaf

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. 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.
5. 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 Danish-Norwegian original is the true first: Copenhagen, Gyldendalske Boghandel (F. Hegel), 14 November 1867 — Gyldendal had been Ibsen's publisher since Brand (1866), so a Copenhagen imprint on a Norwegian-language text is correct and not a translation. The census claim is confirmed. No English edition contends: Peer Gynt first appeared in English only in 1892, in William and Charles Archer's translation, twenty-five years after the original, so every English-language Peer Gynt is a translation and never a first edition of the work. Where an English text is collected, the Archer 1892 translation is the edition of record.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club apparatus exists for an 1867 Copenhagen imprint. The reprint tells are the sequence of authorized editions in Ibsen's lifetime recorded by HIS — 2nd 1867, 3rd 1874, 4th 1876, 5th 1881, 6th 1885, 7th 1886, 8th 1891, 9th 1893, 10th 1896, Folkeutgave 3 1898, 11th 1899, 12th 1903, 13th 1906. The 3rd edition (September 1874) is instantly distinguishable because it adopts the reformed orthography Ibsen used from 1870 following the 1869 Stockholm spelling congress. HIS also records unauthorized American piracies printed by J. Anderson, Chicago, in 1894 and 1902. The frequently offered 1936 Arthur Rackham-illustrated Peer Gynt is an illustrated English "first thus", not a first edition.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Peer Gynt (Peer Gynt: Et dramatisk Digt) a first edition?

A first edition of Peer Gynt (Peer Gynt: Et dramatisk Digt) by Henrik Ibsen (Gyldendalske Boghandel) is identified by: Published 14 November 1867 in a first impression of 1,250 copies.

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 Danish-Norwegian original is the true first: Copenhagen, Gyldendalske Boghandel (F.

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

No book-club apparatus exists for an 1867 Copenhagen imprint. The reprint tells are the sequence of authorized editions in Ibsen's lifetime recorded by HIS — 2nd 1867, 3rd 1874, 4th 1876, 5th 1881, 6th 1885, 7th 1886, 8th 1891, 9th 1893, 10th 1896, Folkeutgave 3 1898, 11th 1899, 12th 1903, 13th 1906. The 3rd edition (September 1874) is instantly distinguishable because it adopts the reformed orthography Ibsen used from 1870 following the 1869 Stockholm spelling congress. HIS also records unautho

I have a first edition of Peer Gynt (Peer Gynt: Et dramatisk Digt) — 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.