# Is "The Rings of Saturn" by W. G. Sebald a First Edition?

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

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The first English edition is the Harvill Press 1998 hardcover, translated by Michael Hulse, with the characteristic black-and-white photographs throughout
- The hardback (ISBN 1860463983) was issued in a small library-oriented run alongside a simultaneous paperback (ISBN 1860463991), which makes the jacketed hardcover the scarce collecting form
- The UK Harvill edition precedes the US New Directions 1998 edition
- Publisher imprint reads The Harvill Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | W. G. Sebald |
| Publisher | The Harvill Press |
| Year | 1998 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The first English edition is the Harvill Press 1998 hardcover, translated by Michael Hulse, with the characteristic black-and-white… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The first English edition is the Harvill Press 1998 hardcover, translated by Michael Hulse, with the characteristic black-and-white photographs throughout. The hardback (ISBN 1860463983) was issued in a small library-oriented run alongside a simultaneous paperback (ISBN 1860463991), which makes the jacketed hardcover the scarce collecting form. The UK Harvill edition precedes the US New Directions 1998 edition.

## Is this the true first?
The UK Harvill 1998 hardcover is the first English-language edition. The German 'Die Ringe des Saturn' (Eichborn, 1995) is the true first in any language. The US New Directions edition is a later first-thus.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition is involved. The absolute true first is the 1995 German Eichborn edition; among English printings, UK Harvill precedes US New Directions. Note the scarce hardback was issued alongside a simultaneous paperback.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Rings of Saturn* by W. G. Sebald a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-rings-of-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.