# Is "Struwwelpeter (Lustige Geschichten und drollige Bilder)" by Heinrich Hoffmann a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Struwwelpeter (Lustige Geschichten und drollige Bilder) by Heinrich Hoffmann (Literarische Anstalt, 1845) is identified by: The decisive point is that the 1845 first does not bear the word Struwwelpeter in its title at all. German-language original, Frankfurt 1845 — the census claim is correct, and the edition sequence is the whole story on this title.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The decisive point is that the 1845 first does not bear the word Struwwelpeter in its title at all
- It reads "Lustige Geschichten und drollige Bilder mit 15 schön kolorirten Tafeln für Kinder von 3–6 Jahren", Frankfurt am Main: Literarische Anstalt (J. Rütten), 1845, published October 1845 under the pseudonym "Reimerich Kinderlieb" — note the 1845 orthography "kolorirten", not the modern "kolorierten"
- The 1845 first contains only SIX stories, on 15 single-sided, hand-coloured lithographed plates reproduced faithfully from Hoffmann's manuscript; the Struwwelpeter figure stands at the END of the book rather than opening it, and the stories of Paulinchen, Zappel-Philipp, Hans Guck-in-die-Luft and the flying Robert are entirely absent
- The verse contents summary printed on the cover ends with the pseudonym
- The Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt holds a copy (shelfmark W 16) with a complete digital facsimile, which is the practical point of comparison for any candidate
- Genuine 1845 copies are seldom encountered; the overwhelming majority of books offered as an "Erstausgabe" are later editions or modern facsimiles
- Publisher imprint reads Literarische Anstalt

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Heinrich Hoffmann |
| Publisher | Literarische Anstalt |
| Year | 1845 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | The decisive point is that the 1845 first does not bear the word Struwwelpeter in its title at all |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The decisive point is that the 1845 first does not bear the word Struwwelpeter in its title at all. It reads "Lustige Geschichten und drollige Bilder mit 15 schön kolorirten Tafeln für Kinder von 3–6 Jahren", Frankfurt am Main: Literarische Anstalt (J. Rütten), 1845, published October 1845 under the pseudonym "Reimerich Kinderlieb" — note the 1845 orthography "kolorirten", not the modern "kolorierten". The 1845 first contains only SIX stories, on 15 single-sided, hand-coloured lithographed plates reproduced faithfully from Hoffmann's manuscript; the Struwwelpeter figure stands at the END of the book rather than opening it, and the stories of Paulinchen, Zappel-Philipp, Hans Guck-in-die-Luft and the flying Robert are entirely absent. The verse contents summary printed on the cover ends with the pseudonym. The Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt holds a copy (shelfmark W 16) with a complete digital facsimile, which is the practical point of comparison for any candidate. Genuine 1845 copies are seldom encountered; the overwhelming majority of books offered as an "Erstausgabe" are later editions or modern facsimiles.

## Is this the true first?
German-language original, Frankfurt 1845 — the census claim is correct, and the edition sequence is the whole story on this title. Second edition 1846: pseudonym changed to "Heinrich Kinderlieb", two stories added. THIRD EDITION, 1847: first to carry "Der Struwwelpeter" in the title — this confirms the census note that the Struwwelpeter title dates from 1847. Fifth edition, also 1847: expanded to the definitive ten stories on 24 plates and the first to bear Hoffmann's full name. FIRST ENGLISH: "The English Struwwelpeter; or, Pretty Stories and Funny Pictures for Little Children", Leipzig: Friedrich Volckmar, 1848, an anonymous translation — note it is a Leipzig-printed English book, not a London one, and it is a first-in-English rather than any kind of true first. An American "Slovenly Peter" followed in 1849.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Every edition from the third (1847) onward titled "Der Struwwelpeter" is a later edition — the 1845 title wording is the discriminator, and a title page reading "Der Struwwelpeter" rules the copy out immediately. Ten stories rules it out as well; ten is the post-1847 form. Modern "Originalfassung von 1845" reprints (Thienemann/Esslinger and others) reproduce the 1845 text and title faithfully and are the commonest thing mistaken for the first — check for a modern ISBN and modern paper. One correction for accuracy: Wikipedia states the first edition contained ten stories, which is wrong; German scholarly sources (kinderundjugendmedien.de) and the Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt agree on six stories and 15 plates for 1845.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Struwwelpeter (Lustige Geschichten und drollige Bilder)* by Heinrich Hoffmann a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/struwwelpeter-lustige-geschichten-und-drollige-bilder
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.