4 Hermann Hesse first editions are documented on this shelf, from Demian (1919) to The Glass Bead Game (1943) across 3 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Hermann Hesse title from later printings and book-club copies — the publisher and year to expect, the number-line or edition-statement conventions, and the tells that show up in online listings.
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- Demian — 1919 · S. Fischer Verlag, BerlinGerman true first: S. Fischer Verlag, Berlin, 1919, issued under the pseudonym 'Emil Sinclair' (the narrator's name) — the defining point of the first printings, whose title page bears no mention of Hesse. Hesse's authorship was publicly exposed in 1920 (by Otto Flake and Eduard Korrodi), after which the attribution was corrected and Hesse returned the Fontane Prize he had won as a supposed first-time author; the…. The German first (S. Fischer, 1919, as by 'Emil Sinclair') is the true first. First edition in English, and first American, is the N. H. Priday translation, Boni & Liveright, New York, 1923 — described as the second Hesse novel to appear in English — in publisher's cloth with a geometric black-and-red pattern repeated on the dust jacket; it was reissued by Henry Holt in 1948. Both the 1919 German first and the…. Multiple early 'Emil Sinclair' printings exist; only the earliest S. Fischer printings predate the 1920 authorship revelation, and later printings carry Hesse's name. The 1948 Henry Holt reissue and later mid-century reprints are not the 1923 first English edition.
- Siddhartha — 1922 · S. Fischer Verlag, BerlinGerman true first: Siddhartha. Eine indische Dichtung, S. Fischer Verlag, Berlin, 1922. Point of issue: the copyright page states 'Erste bis sechste Auflage' (first to sixth printing); higher Auflage bands identify later printings. Collation approximately 147 pp plus unnumbered leaves. Issued in publisher's boards (tan-to-orange, lettered in brown, with a brown topstain), in cloth-backed boards, and in paper…. The census claim is correct in full. The German S. Fischer 1922 is the true first. In English, the US precedes the UK: New Directions, New York, 1951 (Hilda Rosner) is the first English edition, and Peter Owen, London, 1954 is the first British — Peter Owen bought UK rights to the Rosner translation from James Laughlin at New Directions in 1954, and it became that firm's first major book. Because both use the…. No book-club issue is documented for the German 1922 or the American 1951. German reprint tell: the Auflage statement on the copyright page — anything past 'Erste bis sechste Auflage' is a later printing. American reprint tell: New Directions stated its printings, so copies described as later printings of the 1951 sheets (e.g. a fifth or seventh printing) are common and are not firsts; the ubiquitous New….
- Steppenwolf (Der Steppenwolf) — 1927 · S. Fischer VerlagGerman first edition, S. Fischer Verlag, Berlin, 1927. The first printing is identified by the statement '1.-15. Auflage' (1. bis 15. Auflage) on the copyright page (and repeated on the front jacket panel), and by the separately paginated booklet 'Tractat vom Steppenwolf' bound in between pages 64 and 65 with its own (yellow) wrappers. Issued in pale blue linen with the gilt 'hh' monogram on the front board.…. The German S. Fischer 1927 edition is the true first. The first English edition (US Henry Holt, 1929, translated by Basil Creighton) is the English first thus. Later German printings carry a higher Auflage statement (a higher 'Tausend') on the copyright page; the first printing reads '1.-15. Auflage.' The Creighton English translation (Holt, 1929) is not the world first; the later Joseph Mileck revision of the Creighton translation is a different, separate text state.
- The Glass Bead Game — 1943 · Fretz & Wasmuth Verlag, ZurichGerman true first: 'Das Glasperlenspiel,' Fretz & Wasmuth Verlag, Zürich, 1943 — published in neutral Switzerland after being refused publication in Nazi Germany. Issued in two volumes (approximately 452 and 442 pp.) in publisher's sky-blue cloth with gilt stamping to the spine and front board and the title blocked in black on the spine; German text, cited as Mileck 76. The two-volume format and Zürich imprint…. The German Swiss first (Fretz & Wasmuth, 1943) is the true first. CENSUS CORRECTION: the first edition in English is NOT the New York Holt issue — it is the London edition, Aldus Publications Ltd (Francis Aldor), 1949, in Mervyn Savill's translation under the trap title 'Magister Ludi.' The first American edition (Henry Holt, 1949) was made up from imported British sheets and its copyright page reads 'Copyright…. The 1949 Savill 'Magister Ludi' (London Aldus issue and the imported-sheets US Holt issue) and the 1969 Winston 'The Glass Bead Game (Magister Ludi)' are distinct: the 1969 is a new translation ('first edition thus'), not a reprint of 1949. Do not treat the US Holt 1949 as the true first English — it is printed on London sheets and postdates/derives from the London edition.
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