Is My Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition in book form: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., London, 1922 - the first appearance in English, the first bilingual German/English parallel-text edition, the first use of the Latin title, and the first to carry Bertrand Russell's introduction; translation by C. K. Ogden with F. P. Ramsey
• Octavo, 189 pp of parallel text, bound in original blue cloth with the spine lettered in gilt
• First-issue point: NO publisher's advertisements are bound at the rear - the first-edition sheets were bound up as required over time, so later issues of the same first edition are found with substantially later-dated advertisements bound in at the back
• The London Kegan Paul issue precedes the American issue (Harcourt, Brace & Co., New York, 1922), which used the same sheets

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. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. 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.
4. Verify this is the American true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. 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.
6. 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?

Classic precedence trap. The true first publication of the text is German, 1921, in Wilhelm Ostwald's journal 'Annalen der Naturphilosophie' (vol. 14, the final issue, Leipzig), titled 'Logisch-philosophische Abhandlung' - printed without Wittgenstein's corrections and generally regarded as unauthorised. The 1922 Kegan Paul London volume is the first edition in book form / first English edition and is the copy collected as 'the first'; the New York Harcourt Brace 1922 is the simultaneous American issue - name both the 1921 German periodical and the 1922 London book.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Not a book-club title. Later-issue tell within the 1922 first edition: advertisements (often later-dated) bound at the rear indicate a later binding-up of the first-edition sheets. Distinct later editions to avoid confusing with the first: the 1933 corrected second edition, and the wholly different 1961 Pears & McGuinness translation (Routledge & Kegan Paul).

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus a first edition?

A first edition of Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus by Ludwig Wittgenstein (Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co.) is identified by: First edition in book form: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., London, 1922 - the first appearance in English, the first bilingual German/English parallel-text edition, the first use of the Latin title, and the first to carry Bertrand Russell's introduction; translation by C.

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. Classic precedence trap.

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

Not a book-club title. Later-issue tell within the 1922 first edition: advertisements (often later-dated) bound at the rear indicate a later binding-up of the first-edition sheets. Distinct later editions to avoid confusing with the first: the 1933 corrected second edition, and the wholly different 1961 Pears & McGuinness translation (Routledge & Kegan Paul).

I have a first edition of Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus — 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.