# Is "The Buddenbrooks (Buddenbrooks: Verfall einer Familie)" by Thomas Mann a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Buddenbrooks (Buddenbrooks: Verfall einer Familie) by Thomas Mann (S. Fischer Verlag, 1901) is identified by: German first edition, S. The German two-volume S.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- German first edition, S. Fischer Verlag, Berlin, 1901, issued in two volumes (566 and 539 pages, text in Fraktur), in publisher's decorated cloth over beveled boards
- The two-volume 1901 issue is the true first
- Mann's debut novel and the work specifically cited by the Nobel committee
- Referenced in the standard Mann bibliographies (Bürgin
- Wilpert/Gühring)
- Publisher imprint reads S. Fischer Verlag
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Thomas Mann |
| Publisher | S. Fischer Verlag |
| Year | 1901 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | German first edition, S. Fischer Verlag, Berlin, 1901, issued in two volumes (566 and 539 pages, text in Fraktur), in publisher's decorated… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
German first edition, S. Fischer Verlag, Berlin, 1901, issued in two volumes (566 and 539 pages, text in Fraktur), in publisher's decorated cloth over beveled boards. The two-volume 1901 issue is the true first; Mann's debut novel and the work specifically cited by the Nobel committee. Referenced in the standard Mann bibliographies (Bürgin; Wilpert/Gühring).

## Is this the true first?
The German two-volume S. Fischer 1901 set is the true first. The first English edition (Knopf, 1924, translated by H. T. Lowe-Porter) is the English first thus.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The far more common single-volume issue (from 1903 onward, with the well-known Wilhelm Schulz cover) was a cheaper format introduced to boost sluggish sales and is NOT the first; the true first is the 1901 two-volume set. The Lowe-Porter English translation is not the world first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Buddenbrooks (Buddenbrooks: Verfall einer Familie)* by Thomas Mann a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-buddenbrooks-buddenbrooks-verfall-einer-familie
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.