# Is "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse (S. Fischer Verlag, Berlin, 1922) is identified by: German true first: Siddhartha. The census claim is correct in full.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- German true first: Siddhartha
- Eine indische Dichtung, S. Fischer Verlag, Berlin, 1922
- Point of issue: the copyright page states 'Erste bis sechste Auflage' (first to sixth printing); higher Auflage bands identify later printings
- Collation approximately 147 pp plus unnumbered leaves
- Issued in publisher's boards (tan-to-orange, lettered in brown, with a brown topstain), in cloth-backed boards, and in paper wrappers — all are first-edition issues, with no established priority among them
- First edition in English: New Directions, New York, 1951, translated by Hilda Rosner, issued in the New Classics Series, 153 pp
- Publisher imprint reads S. Fischer Verlag, Berlin

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Hermann Hesse |
| Publisher | S. Fischer Verlag, Berlin |
| Year | 1922 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | German true first: Siddhartha |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
German true first: Siddhartha. Eine indische Dichtung, S. Fischer Verlag, Berlin, 1922. Point of issue: the copyright page states 'Erste bis sechste Auflage' (first to sixth printing); higher Auflage bands identify later printings. Collation approximately 147 pp plus unnumbered leaves. Issued in publisher's boards (tan-to-orange, lettered in brown, with a brown topstain), in cloth-backed boards, and in paper wrappers — all are first-edition issues, with no established priority among them. First edition in English: New Directions, New York, 1951, translated by Hilda Rosner, issued in the New Classics Series, 153 pp. A state point is reported by dealers on the verso of the half-title, where the series list misspells 'Paterson' (William Carlos Williams's title) in the earlier state and corrects it in the later; this point traces to a single dealer description and is recorded here as reported rather than settled. Cloth descriptions for the New Directions issue vary between listings, so no binding colour is asserted for it.

## Is this the true first?
The census claim is correct in full. The German S. Fischer 1922 is the true first. In English, the US precedes the UK: New Directions, New York, 1951 (Hilda Rosner) is the first English edition, and Peter Owen, London, 1954 is the first British — Peter Owen bought UK rights to the Rosner translation from James Laughlin at New Directions in 1954, and it became that firm's first major book. Because both use the same Rosner text, the Owen is a first UK edition, not a new translation. Later retranslations and the New Directions paperback are 'first thus'.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue is documented for the German 1922 or the American 1951. German reprint tell: the Auflage statement on the copyright page — anything past 'Erste bis sechste Auflage' is a later printing. American reprint tell: New Directions stated its printings, so copies described as later printings of the 1951 sheets (e.g. a fifth or seventh printing) are common and are not firsts; the ubiquitous New Directions Paperbook is a later reprint entirely.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Siddhartha* by Hermann Hesse a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/siddhartha
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.