# Is "The Bridal Canopy (Hakhnasat Kallah / הכנסת כלה)" by Shmuel Yosef Agnon (Sh. Y. Agnon) a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Bridal Canopy (Hakhnasat Kallah / הכנסת כלה) by Shmuel Yosef Agnon (Sh. Y. Agnon) (Schocken Verlag, 1931) is identified by: The true first is the 1931 Hebrew "Hakhnasat Kallah," issued by the newly founded Schocken Verlag in Berlin, where the completed, expanded novel first appeared in book form within Agnon's collected works "Kol Sipurav shel Shmuel Yosef Agnon" (Berlin Schocken, begun 1931). The true first edition is the 1931 Hebrew "Hakhnasat Kallah," Schocken Verlag, Berlin, published within Agnon's collected works "Kol Sipurav shel Shmuel Yosef Agnon" (Berlin Schocken; Britannica gives vols.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first is the 1931 Hebrew "Hakhnasat Kallah," issued by the newly founded Schocken Verlag in Berlin, where the completed, expanded novel first appeared in book form within Agnon's collected works "Kol Sipurav shel Shmuel Yosef Agnon" (Berlin Schocken, begun 1931)
- Sources agree the novel anchored this collected edition, but DIFFER on the exact designation: encyclopedic entries call the 1931 first edition a four-volume set that included the expanded Hakhnasat Kallah, while Britannica frames the Berlin run as volumes 1-6 (1931-35) — so do NOT assert a firm "Volume 1" number without a specialist Hebraica bibliography
- Before 1931 the work existed only as a shorter story (first published c
- 1920), so no genuine pre-1931 book form exists; the 1931 printing is the first appearance of the full novel
- HEDGE: accessible records do not document the physical points of the 1931 Hebrew book (binding cloth/color, print run, any stated-printing line); confirm the volume designation and collation against a specialist Judaica bibliography or dealer before treating anything as a first-issue point
- Publisher imprint reads Schocken Verlag
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Shmuel Yosef Agnon (Sh. Y. Agnon) |
| Publisher | Schocken Verlag |
| Year | 1931 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first is the 1931 Hebrew "Hakhnasat Kallah," issued by the newly founded Schocken Verlag in Berlin, where the completed, expanded… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
The true first is the 1931 Hebrew "Hakhnasat Kallah," issued by the newly founded Schocken Verlag in Berlin, where the completed, expanded novel first appeared in book form within Agnon's collected works "Kol Sipurav shel Shmuel Yosef Agnon" (Berlin Schocken, begun 1931). Sources agree the novel anchored this collected edition, but DIFFER on the exact designation: encyclopedic entries call the 1931 first edition a four-volume set that included the expanded Hakhnasat Kallah, while Britannica frames the Berlin run as volumes 1-6 (1931-35) — so do NOT assert a firm "Volume 1" number without a specialist Hebraica bibliography. Before 1931 the work existed only as a shorter story (first published c. 1920), so no genuine pre-1931 book form exists; the 1931 printing is the first appearance of the full novel. HEDGE: accessible records do not document the physical points of the 1931 Hebrew book (binding cloth/color, print run, any stated-printing line); confirm the volume designation and collation against a specialist Judaica bibliography or dealer before treating anything as a first-issue point.

## Is this the true first?
The true first edition is the 1931 Hebrew "Hakhnasat Kallah," Schocken Verlag, Berlin, published within Agnon's collected works "Kol Sipurav shel Shmuel Yosef Agnon" (Berlin Schocken; Britannica gives vols. 1-6, 1931-35; other sources describe the 1931 set as four volumes) — the state serious Agnon/Hebraica collectors seek. The first ENGLISH-language edition is "The Bridal Canopy," translated by Israel Meir (I.M.) Lask, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran & Company, 1937 — the first Agnon novel translated into English (dealer copies confirm brown cloth; some records mis-state the city as "N.J."). A reset Jerusalem/Tel Aviv Schocken collected edition of the 1950s-the printed price carries Hakhnasat Kallah again in a later text state — not the first — as does Schocken New York's 1967 English reissue of the Lask translation.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The main book-club trap is on the ENGLISH side. Doubleday, Doran had held a controlling interest in the Literary Guild since 1934, and the 1937 first English edition had a simultaneous Literary Guild of America issue from the same plates — routinely mis-sold as the "first English edition/first printing" (one seen dealer listing does exactly this). Trade-first tells from book-club identification guides: check the copyright page and the title page/spine for the words "Literary Guild" (their presence marks the club issue); Literary Guild copies are typically lighter/smaller on inferior acidic paper and often bear a small blindstamp (dot, circle, square, or triangle) on the lower rear board near the spine. NOTE: the specific claim that the Doubleday trade issue states "First Edition" on the copyright page is standard BCE guidance and was NOT confirmed in the dealer listings checked — verify against the book in hand rather than relying on it as a settled point. Later Schocken New York reprints (e.g., 1967) are not firsts. On the Hebrew side, beware post-war/reset Jerusalem Schocken printings offered as the 1931 Berlin first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Bridal Canopy (Hakhnasat Kallah / הכנסת כלה)* by Shmuel Yosef Agnon (Sh. Y. Agnon) a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-bridal-canopy
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.