Is My Copy of The Piano Teacher (Die Klavierspielerin) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The true first is the 1983 Rowohlt Verlag (Reinbek bei Hamburg) hardcover in the "Das neue Buch" series, ISBN 3-498-03316-6, a thread-sewn original board binding (fadengehefteter Originalpappband) issued in a printed dust jacket; page count is cited as 351 pp. (some dealer records list 352, counting a terminal blank)
• Primary identifier: the ISBN carries the 3-498 prefix, Rowohlt's Reinbek hardcover imprint — NOT the 3-499 prefix used for the later rororo mass-market paperback, so any copy bearing 3-499-... is a paperback reprint, not the first
• Rowohlt printed thousand-run ("Tsd.") statements in the imprint, and later printings carry higher counts (a "5.-6
• Tsd." 1983 reprint and a "5
• 1984" fifth edition both circulate); a first printing should show the earliest thousand-count with no later-printing or 1984 statement, though the exact first-printing "Tsd." wording is not well documented in public catalog records, so verify it in hand

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 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 true first edition is the German-language Die Klavierspielerin, Rowohlt Verlag, Reinbek bei Hamburg, 1983 (Erstdruck) — that is what serious Jelinek collectors pursue, and it is her breakthrough novel (basis for Haneke's 2001 film, cited in her 2004 Nobel). The first English-language edition is The Piano Teacher, translated by Joachim Neugroschel (translation copyright 1988, Wheatland Corporation), published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, New York, 1988 — the first American edition, first printing, a cloth/half-cloth hardcover in dust jacket with a complete number line ending in 1; it was the first of Jelinek's novels to appear in English. The first UK edition followed from Serpent's Tail, London, 1989 (ISBN 1-85242-157-1 / 9781852421571).P-007874

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No U.S. Book-of-the-Month/book-club edition of note exists for either the German or the English first. The German-market analogue is the rororo mass-market paperback (Rowohlt Taschenbuch, 3-499 prefix, ISBN 3-499-15812-4 / 9783499158124, from 1986 — German Wikipedia dates this printing to 1986, not 1983), which is frequently mislisted online as a "first edition" and must not be confused with the 1983 "Das neue Buch" hardcover. A "5.-6. Tsd." 1983 reprint and a "5. Aufl. 1984" fifth edition also circulate and are not firsts. Later Neuausgabe/reissue editions (e.g., the 2026 Rowohlt Neuausgabe, ISBN 978-3-499-01911-1, and 978-3-15... Reclam-style reprints) are common traps. On the English side, the Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1988 issue is the first; the 1989 Serpent's Tail edition, later Serpent's Tail reissues, and the Serpent's Tail Classics printings are subsequent, not firsts.P-007875

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Piano Teacher (Die Klavierspielerin) a first edition?

A first edition of The Piano Teacher (Die Klavierspielerin) by Elfriede Jelinek (Rowohlt Verlag) is identified by: The true first is the 1983 Rowohlt Verlag (Reinbek bei Hamburg) hardcover in the "Das neue Buch" series, ISBN 3-498-03316-6 (9783498033163), a thread-sewn original board binding (fadengehefteter Originalpappband) issued in a printed dust jacket; page count is cited as 351 pp. (some dealer records list 352, counting a terminal blank).

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 true first edition is the German-language Die Klavierspielerin, Rowohlt Verlag, Reinbek bei Hamburg, 1983 (Erstdruck) — that is what serious Jelinek collectors pursue, and it is her breakthrough novel (basis for Haneke's 2001 film, cited in her 2004 Nobel).

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

No U.S. Book-of-the-Month/book-club edition of note exists for either the German or the English first. The German-market analogue is the rororo mass-market paperback (Rowohlt Taschenbuch, 3-499 prefix, ISBN 3-499-15812-4 / 9783499158124, from 1986 — German Wikipedia dates this printing to 1986, not 1983), which is frequently mislisted online as a "first edition" and must not be confused with the 1983 "Das neue Buch" hardcover. A "5.-6. Tsd." 1983 reprint and a "5. Aufl.

I have a first edition of The Piano Teacher (Die Klavierspielerin) — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.