# Is "The Threepenny Opera (Die Dreigroschenoper)" by Bertolt Brecht a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Threepenny Opera (Die Dreigroschenoper) by Bertolt Brecht (Universal-Edition, Vienna–Leipzig, 1928) is identified by: CENSUS CORRECTED — the true first of the play text is NOT Versuche 3. The census is wrong on two counts and both should be corrected on the record.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- CENSUS CORRECTED — the true first of the play text is NOT Versuche 3
- The full Textbuch (libretto) was published by Universal-Edition, Wien–Leipzig, in 1928, publisher's catalogue number 8850, in original printed wrappers, octavo, co-published with Felix Bloch Erben for theatrical rental and for public sale; the Kurt Weill Foundation dates the Universal-Edition libretto and the piano-vocal score (Klavierauszug) to October–November 1928, following the 31 August 1928 premiere at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm
- The decisive title-page point is the credit line 'übersetzt von Elisabeth Hauptmann / deutsche Bearbeitung von Bert Brecht / Musik von Kurt Weill' — the Hauptmann translation credit is present on this first published text and is progressively suppressed in later editions, where the front cover carries Brecht's name alone
- Manhattan Rare Books reports the first issue at 300 copies (theatre-use copies bearing rubber-stamped copy numbers), with subsequent printings of 500 copies in November 1928 and 500 in December 1929; those figures rest on a single source and should be treated as reported rather than established
- Publisher imprint reads Universal-Edition, Vienna–Leipzig
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Bertolt Brecht |
| Publisher | Universal-Edition, Vienna–Leipzig |
| Year | 1928 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | CENSUS CORRECTED — the true first of the play text is NOT Versuche 3 |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
CENSUS CORRECTED — the true first of the play text is NOT Versuche 3. The full Textbuch (libretto) was published by Universal-Edition, Wien–Leipzig, in 1928, publisher's catalogue number 8850, in original printed wrappers, octavo, co-published with Felix Bloch Erben for theatrical rental and for public sale; the Kurt Weill Foundation dates the Universal-Edition libretto and the piano-vocal score (Klavierauszug) to October–November 1928, following the 31 August 1928 premiere at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm. The decisive title-page point is the credit line 'übersetzt von Elisabeth Hauptmann / deutsche Bearbeitung von Bert Brecht / Musik von Kurt Weill' — the Hauptmann translation credit is present on this first published text and is progressively suppressed in later editions, where the front cover carries Brecht's name alone. Manhattan Rare Books reports the first issue at 300 copies (theatre-use copies bearing rubber-stamped copy numbers), with subsequent printings of 500 copies in November 1928 and 500 in December 1929; those figures rest on a single source and should be treated as reported rather than established.

## Is this the true first?
The census is wrong on two counts and both should be corrected on the record. (1) The song texts were not a Universal-Edition Vienna publication: 'Die Songs der Dreigroschenoper' was published by Gustav Kiepenheuer, Potsdam, 1928 — a small twelvemo pamphlet of the song texts only, in original printed wrappers, printed by the Hoboken-Presse in Charlottenburg, distributed to the audience at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm to mark the production's 100th performance, alongside a separate widely distributed public issue. (2) The full play text did not first appear in Versuche 3 in 1931 — it first appeared in the 1928 Universal-Edition Textbuch described above. Versuche Heft 3 (Versuche 8–10), Gustav Kiepenheuer, Berlin — dated 1931 but actually issued in January 1932 per the Kurt Weill Foundation — contains a substantially revised libretto together with 'Die Beule' and 'Der Dreigroschenprozeß'. It is the first appearance of the revised 1931 text (the version most modern editions descend from, and one not licensed for performance until 1949), which makes it a major first thus, not the first edition of the work. The census is right that all English editions are postwar.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club or later-issue tells are documented for the 1928 Universal-Edition or Kiepenheuer printings. Two dating hazards instead: Versuche Heft 3 is dated 1931 on the volume but was issued in January 1932 — the reverse of the usual reprint trap, since the printed date is earlier than actual publication; and at least one bibliography gives 1929 for 'Die Songs der Dreigroschenoper', against the 1928 date confirmed by the Ketterer Kunst cataloguing. The Suhrkamp and edition suhrkamp texts in universal circulation are reprints of the revised 1931/1932 text, not of the 1928 first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Threepenny Opera (Die Dreigroschenoper)* by Bertolt Brecht a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-threepenny-opera-die-dreigroschenoper
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.