Is My 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

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).

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.

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.

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. 1984" fifth edition also

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 — 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.