# Is "Sophie's World" by Jostein Gaarder a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder (H. Aschehoug & Co., 1991) is identified by: The true first is Sofies verden: Roman om filosofiens historie, H. Norwegian is the true first (Aschehoug, Oslo, 1991).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first is Sofies verden: Roman om filosofiens historie, H. Aschehoug & Co
- (W. Nygaard), Oslo, 5 December 1991; the copyright is held by Aschehoug, Oslo, and later Norwegian printings are marked by opplag statements (e.g. '3. oppl'), so a first must show no opplag number above 1
- The first edition in English is the American one: Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, September 1994, translated from the Norwegian by Paulette Møller, hardcover in dust jacket, ISBN 0-374-26642-5; dealers describe firsts as 'first edition, first impression' or 'First American Edition' stated on the copyright page, with no later-printing statement, and the jacket should be present and unclipped with the price at the flap
- The exact wording of the FSG copyright-page statement could not be corroborated against a second independent source, so confirm the page itself rather than relying on the imprint alone
- The first UK edition is Phoenix House (a division of Orion), London, 1995, in brown cloth-covered boards with gilt spine titles and an illustrated dust jacket, firsts described as 'first impression'; an uncorrected proof of the Phoenix House edition is recorded (one dealer claims a limitation of 200, which is not independently confirmed)
- Publisher imprint reads H. Aschehoug & Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Jostein Gaarder |
| Publisher | H. Aschehoug & Co. |
| Year | 1991 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first is Sofies verden: Roman om filosofiens historie, H. Aschehoug & Co |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The true first is Sofies verden: Roman om filosofiens historie, H. Aschehoug & Co. (W. Nygaard), Oslo, 5 December 1991; the copyright is held by Aschehoug, Oslo, and later Norwegian printings are marked by opplag statements (e.g. '3. oppl'), so a first must show no opplag number above 1. The first edition in English is the American one: Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, September 1994, translated from the Norwegian by Paulette Møller, hardcover in dust jacket, ISBN 0-374-26642-5; dealers describe firsts as 'first edition, first impression' or 'First American Edition' stated on the copyright page, with no later-printing statement, and the jacket should be present and unclipped with the price at the flap. The exact wording of the FSG copyright-page statement could not be corroborated against a second independent source, so confirm the page itself rather than relying on the imprint alone. The first UK edition is Phoenix House (a division of Orion), London, 1995, in brown cloth-covered boards with gilt spine titles and an illustrated dust jacket, firsts described as 'first impression'; an uncorrected proof of the Phoenix House edition is recorded (one dealer claims a limitation of 200, which is not independently confirmed).

## Is this the true first?
Norwegian is the true first (Aschehoug, Oslo, 1991). The census claim that Phoenix House, London, 1994 precedes FSG is WRONG on both counts: the Phoenix House edition is 1995, not 1994, and it followed the American edition. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 1994 is the first in English — the UK dealer describing the Phoenix House first states outright that the translation was initially published in the USA by FSG, and trade ISBN records date the FSG hardcover to September 1994. Both the Oslo 1991 and the New York 1994 are collected; the London 1995 Phoenix House is the British first, not the first in English.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted for either the FSG or the Phoenix House first. The title was a mass bestseller and the later Orion/Phoenix paperback issues — including the Phoenix 60p Paperbacks series (1996) and Orion (1999) — circulate widely and are routinely mislabelled 'first edition'. Treat the derivative Phoenix House offshoots (e.g. Sophie's World: The Greek Philosophers, 1997) and the FSG Teacher's Guide (2007) as separate publications, not printings of the novel.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Sophie's World* by Jostein Gaarder a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/sophies-world
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.