Is My The Metamorphosis a First Edition?

The points of issue

• German true first: Die Verwandlung, Kurt Wolff Verlag, Leipzig, 1915, issued as the double volume 22/23 of the series Der jüngste Tag — the series numbering on the wrapper and title is the primary identifier
• The story had already appeared in the periodical Die weissen Blätter in October 1915, so the Wolff volume is the first book appearance, published that December
• The cover carries Ottomar Starke's drawing of a man with his hands to his head before an open door
• Kafka wrote to the publisher insisting the insect itself not be drawn, and it is not depicted — any cover showing a beetle is not this edition
• The volume was issued both in cream self-wrappers with folding flaps (uncut) and in an illustrated pasteboard/cased issue with the title in red and black; both are first-edition issues
• Reported print-run figures conflict across dealer catalogues (800 vs 1,000 copies), so no figure is stated here

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. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
4. Verify this is the American 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 census claim is correct. The true first is the German Die Verwandlung (Kurt Wolff, Leipzig, 1915, Der jüngste Tag 22/23). The first separate English-language book edition is Parton Press, London, 1937 (A.L. Lloyd), which precedes the first American, The Vanguard Press, New York, 1946 (same Lloyd text) — both English-language editions are collected, the Parton as the first in English and the Vanguard as the first in America. The far more familiar Willa and Edwin Muir translation is later and is a 'first thus' trap, not a first: no Muir-translated printing of this title is a first edition in any sense.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented for the 1915 Wolff, the 1937 Parton, or the 1946 Vanguard. Reprint tells: any Kurt Wolff printing without the Der jüngste Tag 22/23 series designation, or with a later series/printing statement, is a subsequent issue. In English the traps are volume-of-collected-stories appearances and the many post-war Schocken, Vanguard reprint and paperback-series printings, all of which are later; a Vanguard copy is a first American only with the 1946 imprint and the Goodman preface/Sherman drawings.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Metamorphosis a first edition?

A first edition of The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (Kurt Wolff Verlag, Leipzig) is identified by: German true first: Die Verwandlung, Kurt Wolff Verlag, Leipzig, 1915, issued as the double volume 22/23 of the series Der jüngste Tag — the series numbering on the wrapper and title is the primary identifier.

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

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. The census claim is correct.

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

No book-club issue is documented for the 1915 Wolff, the 1937 Parton, or the 1946 Vanguard. Reprint tells: any Kurt Wolff printing without the Der jüngste Tag 22/23 series designation, or with a later series/printing statement, is a subsequent issue. In English the traps are volume-of-collected-stories appearances and the many post-war Schocken, Vanguard reprint and paperback-series printings, all of which are later; a Vanguard copy is a first American only with the 1946 imprint and the Goodman

I have a first edition of The Metamorphosis — 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.