# Is "The Piano Teacher (Die Klavierspielerin)" by Elfriede Jelinek a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Piano Teacher (Die Klavierspielerin) by Elfriede Jelinek (Rowohlt Verlag, 1983) 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. 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).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- 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
- Publisher imprint reads Rowohlt Verlag

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Elfriede Jelinek |
| Publisher | Rowohlt Verlag |
| Year | 1983 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first is the 1983 Rowohlt Verlag (Reinbek bei Hamburg) hardcover in the "Das neue Buch" series, ISBN 3-498-03316-6 |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## 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 (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). 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. Aufl. 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. The jacket should not reference the 2001 Haneke film or the 2004 Nobel Prize.

## 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.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Piano Teacher (Die Klavierspielerin)* by Elfriede Jelinek a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-piano-teacher
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.