Is My The Saga of Gösta Berling (Gösta Berlings saga) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The true first is the 1891 Stockholm printing issued by Frithiof (Fritiof) Hellbergs förlag in two parts, "Del 1 / Del 2" (collation [IV]+287 pp. and [IV]+296 pp., octavo), with a map (of the fictional Lövsjö härad in Värmland) bound in the first part
• It carries the 1891 Hellberg imprint — Hellberg being publisher of the magazine Idun, whose summer-1890 prize competition the book grew out of — and no later edition/printing statement ("upplaga")
• The most decisive point is the edition statement itself: Lagerlöf revised the text for the 1895 second edition ("Andra upplagan," changes documented by Litteraturbanken), so a genuine first is the unrevised 1891 "Originalupplagan" with no "andra upplagan / ny upplaga" line on the title page
• The original publisher's binding was plain black card covers; surviving copies are very often rebound in later half-morocco or half-calf, and the map is easily lacking and should be verified as present

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. 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 American 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?

The true first edition is the original Swedish "Gösta Berlings saga," Frithiof Hellberg, Stockholm, 1891, in two parts — this is what serious Lagerlöf collectors pursue. The first English rendering is Lillie Tudeer's abridged translation, "Gösta Berling's Saga" (Chapman & Hall, London); sources conflict on its date, with Wikipedia giving 1894 and scholarly/library records (Encyclopedia.com / Dictionary of Literary Biography) giving Chapman & Hall, 1898 — treat the exact year as unsettled. A fuller translation by Pauline Bancroft Flach, "The Story of Gösta Berling," appeared in 1898 (Gay & Bird, London; Little, Brown, Boston). The Tudeer text was abridged; the American-Scandinavian Foundation reissued it in 1918 (New York; London: Humphrey Milford/OUP) with eight previously omitted chapters restored.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

There is no mass-market book-club edition of the Swedish first that is a common trap; the real confusion is between the 1891 first ("Originalupplagan") and the author-revised 1895 second edition ("Andra upplagan"), plus the many later Albert Bonniers förlag reprints (e.g., the 13th "billighetsupplaga," Bonnier, 1910) — all carry an edition statement and, from ~1900 on, the Bonnier imprint rather than Hellberg, so check for the 1891 Hellberg imprint and the two-part "Del 1 / Del 2" format with the map. On the English side, the frequently reprinted public-domain Tudeer and Flach texts (Dover 2003 and other Courier/Dover reissues, Standard Ebooks, and various print-on-demand reprints) are routinely mislisted as "first edition"; the true first English is the 1890s Chapman & Hall (Tudeer) or 1898 Gay & Bird / Little, Brown (Flach) printing, not any 20th- or the printed pricet-century reissue.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Saga of Gösta Berling (Gösta Berlings saga) a first edition?

A first edition of The Saga of Gösta Berling (Gösta Berlings saga) by Selma Lagerlöf (Frithiof Hellberg) is identified by: The true first is the 1891 Stockholm printing issued by Frithiof (Fritiof) Hellbergs förlag in two parts, "Del 1 / Del 2" (collation [IV]+287 pp.

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. The true first edition is the original Swedish "Gösta Berlings saga," Frithiof Hellberg, Stockholm, 1891, in two parts — this is what serious Lagerlöf collectors pursue.

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

There is no mass-market book-club edition of the Swedish first that is a common trap; the real confusion is between the 1891 first ("Originalupplagan") and the author-revised 1895 second edition ("Andra upplagan"), plus the many later Albert Bonniers förlag reprints (e.g., the 13th "billighetsupplaga," Bonnier, 1910) — all carry an edition statement and, from ~1900 on, the Bonnier imprint rather than Hellberg, so check for the 1891 Hellberg imprint and the two-part "Del 1 / Del 2" format with th

I have a first edition of The Saga of Gösta Berling (Gösta Berlings saga) — 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.