Is My The Rings of Saturn (Die Ringe des Saturn) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First English edition, translated by Michael Hulse, with the characteristic black-and-white photographs
• UK Harvill Press, London, 1998, issued in both a softcover (French-wraps) and a scarcer hardback aimed largely at libraries
• A US New Directions hardcover also appeared in 1998
• Documented textual variations exist between Hulse's English and Sebald's German

How Harvill Press marked a first edition

• Descending number line; the lowest digit present indicates the impression, with a first printing ending in '1'.

Full Harvill Press first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. 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.
3. Verify this is the UK true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. 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.
5. 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?

True first English edition is the UK Harvill Press 1998 printing (Hulse translation); the US New Directions hardcover of 1998 is near-simultaneous and a separate issue. German original published as Die Ringe des Saturn by Eichborn, 1995.P-032304

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later printings and paperbacks carry reset number lines and ISBNs. For the UK first, note that both a wrappered issue and a scarcer hardback exist; the US first is the New Directions 1998 hardcover.P-032305

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Rings of Saturn (Die Ringe des Saturn) a first edition?

A first edition of The Rings of Saturn (Die Ringe des Saturn) by W. G. Sebald (Harvill Press) is identified by: First English edition, translated by Michael Hulse, with the characteristic black-and-white photographs.

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. True first English edition is the UK Harvill Press 1998 printing (Hulse translation); the US New Directions hardcover of 1998 is near-simultaneous and a separate issue.

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

Later printings and paperbacks carry reset number lines and ISBNs. For the UK first, note that both a wrappered issue and a scarcer hardback exist; the US first is the New Directions 1998 hardcover.

I have a first edition of The Rings of Saturn (Die Ringe des Saturn) — 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.