# Is "Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus" by Ludwig Wittgenstein a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus by Ludwig Wittgenstein (Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., 1922) 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. Classic precedence trap.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- 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
- Publisher imprint reads Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Ludwig Wittgenstein |
| Publisher | Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. |
| Year | 1922 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition in book form: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., London, 1922 - the first appearance in English, the first bilingual… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## 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.

## 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).

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus* by Ludwig Wittgenstein a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/tractatus-logico-philosophicus
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.