Is My The Land of Green Plums a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The German original, Herztier, was published by Rowohlt Verlag at Reinbek bei Hamburg in 1994, ISBN 3-498-04366-8 — the 3-498 prefix is Rowohlt's hardcover imprint and is the quickest way to separate the first from the rororo paperback (ISBN 3-499-13709-7, 1996)
• The first edition in English is Michael Hofmann's translation, The Land of Green Plums, Metropolitan Books (Henry Holt), New York, published 15 November 1996; a dealer describes the first as quarter-bound blue cloth over mauve paper-covered boards, lettered in gilt to the spine, in a dust jacket using an image from Jan Saudek's 1991 series 'Life, Love, Death & Other Such Trifles', with the price present at the front flap
• No number line or copyright-page printing statement was reported by the dealers consulted, so we do not state one

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
4. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
6. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

The German Rowohlt 1994 edition is the true first. For English the census claim holds — the US precedes the UK: Metropolitan Books, New York, November 1996 is the first edition in English, ahead of the first UK edition, Granta Books, London, 1998 (paperback); a Hydra Books/Northwestern University Press issue also appeared in November 1998 and is later. The book took the 1998 International Dublin (IMPAC) Literary Award and Müller's 2009 Nobel drove renewed demand, which is what put both the Rowohlt and the Metropolitan firsts in play.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition documented. Reprint and first-thus tells: the rororo paperback (1996) and Fischer paperbacks (2007, 2010) are later German issues; the Granta 1998 and Picador UK 2010 editions are 'first thus' in Britain, not firsts; the 2011 Hörbuch Hamburg audiobook is unrelated to the printed first. Beware post-Nobel (2009-onward) reissues bearing the 1994 text but modern imprints.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Land of Green Plums a first edition?

A first edition of The Land of Green Plums by Herta Müller (Rowohlt Verlag, Reinbek bei Hamburg) is identified by: The German original, Herztier, was published by Rowohlt Verlag at Reinbek bei Hamburg in 1994, ISBN 3-498-04366-8 — the 3-498 prefix is Rowohlt's hardcover imprint and is the quickest way to separate the first from the rororo paperback (ISBN 3-499-13709-7, 1996).

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). The German Rowohlt 1994 edition is the true first.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

No book-club edition documented. Reprint and first-thus tells: the rororo paperback (1996) and Fischer paperbacks (2007, 2010) are later German issues; the Granta 1998 and Picador UK 2010 editions are 'first thus' in Britain, not firsts; the 2011 Hörbuch Hamburg audiobook is unrelated to the printed first. Beware post-Nobel (2009-onward) reissues bearing the 1994 text but modern imprints.

I have a first edition of The Land of Green Plums — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.