# Is "Relativity: The Special and the General Theory (Über die spezielle und die allgemeine Relativitätstheorie)" by Albert Einstein a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Relativity: The Special and the General Theory (Über die spezielle und die allgemeine Relativitätstheorie) by Albert Einstein (Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn, 1917) is identified by: The true first is the German-language issue: Braunschweig, Friedr. German original precedes: Vieweg, Braunschweig, 1917 (census claim confirmed).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first is the German-language issue: Braunschweig, Friedr
- Vieweg & Sohn, 1917, published in the series "Sammlung Vieweg: Tagesfragen aus den Gebieten der Naturwissenschaft und der Technik, Heft 38," in original printed wrappers, collating IV, 70 pp, from a first printing of 2,000 copies
- The first printing carries no Auflage (edition/printing) statement; a second printing appeared within the same year and is designated "Zweite Auflage" on the wrapper and title, and further designated Auflagen followed rapidly (1918 and 1920 printings are recorded, the 1920 run reaching tens of thousands after the 1919 eclipse results)
- Because the book is a slim wrappered pamphlet in a numbered series, condition of the printed wrappers and the absence of any Auflage statement are the whole of the identification
- The work is Printing and the Mind of Man 408
- Publisher imprint reads Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Albert Einstein |
| Publisher | Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn |
| Year | 1917 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first is the German-language issue: Braunschweig, Friedr |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The true first is the German-language issue: Braunschweig, Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn, 1917, published in the series "Sammlung Vieweg: Tagesfragen aus den Gebieten der Naturwissenschaft und der Technik, Heft 38," in original printed wrappers, collating IV, 70 pp, from a first printing of 2,000 copies. The first printing carries no Auflage (edition/printing) statement; a second printing appeared within the same year and is designated "Zweite Auflage" on the wrapper and title, and further designated Auflagen followed rapidly (1918 and 1920 printings are recorded, the 1920 run reaching tens of thousands after the 1919 eclipse results). Because the book is a slim wrappered pamphlet in a numbered series, condition of the printed wrappers and the absence of any Auflage statement are the whole of the identification. The work is Printing and the Mind of Man 408.

## Is this the true first?
German original precedes: Vieweg, Braunschweig, 1917 (census claim confirmed). Note a genuine dating conflict — English Wikipedia's text says "published in German in 1916" while its own citation, the Collected Papers of Albert Einstein (Vol. 6, Doc. 42), German Wikipedia, and the auction and dealer record all give the Vieweg imprint as 1917; Einstein completed the manuscript in December 1916, which accounts for the 1916 date sometimes seen. The first edition in English is the authorized Robert W. Lawson translation, Methuen & Co., London, 1920, with Henry Holt & Co., New York, 1920 as the first American edition; both are collected, and while one source dates the Methuen issue to 19 August 1920, precedence between Methuen and Holt is not firmly settled in the sources consulted and should not be asserted.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue is documented for the 1917 Vieweg printing. The trap on this title is the rapid succession of same-year and near-year German Auflagen (Zweite Auflage 1917; further printings 1918, 1920) which are frequently offered simply as "1917 Vieweg" or "first edition" — check the wrapper and title for an Auflage statement. The many later English editions, including the expanded 3rd edition and the 100th Anniversary Edition, are "first thus."

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Relativity: The Special and the General Theory (Über die spezielle und die allgemeine Relativitätstheorie)* by Albert Einstein a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/relativity-the-special-and-the-general-theory-ber-die-spezie
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.