# Is "The Rings of Saturn (Die Ringe des Saturn)" by W. G. Sebald a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Rings of Saturn (Die Ringe des Saturn) by W. G. Sebald (Harvill Press, 1998) is identified by: First English edition, translated by Michael Hulse, with the characteristic black-and-white photographs. 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.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- 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
- Publisher imprint reads Harvill Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | W. G. Sebald |
| Publisher | Harvill Press |
| Year | 1998 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First English edition, translated by Michael Hulse, with the characteristic black-and-white photographs |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## 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.

## 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.

## 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.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Rings of Saturn (Die Ringe des Saturn)* by W. G. Sebald a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-rings-of-saturn-die-ringe-des-saturn
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.