# Is "A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal" by Joan W. Blos a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal by Joan W. Blos (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1979) is identified by: First edition published 1979 by Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. US true first edition (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1979).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition published 1979 by Charles Scribner's Sons, New York
- By the later 1970s Scribner had moved away from the lone letter A first-printing code toward a number line, so the first printing is identified by a number line including the 1 on the copyright page rather than by an A code
- Cloth binding with original-price dust jacket
- Publisher imprint reads Charles Scribner's Sons
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Joan W. Blos |
| Publisher | Charles Scribner's Sons |
| Year | 1979 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | First edition published 1979 by Charles Scribner's Sons, New York |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First edition published 1979 by Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. By the later 1970s Scribner had moved away from the lone letter A first-printing code toward a number line, so the first printing is identified by a number line including the 1 on the copyright page rather than by an A code. Cloth binding with original-price dust jacket.

## Is this the true first?
US true first edition (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1979). Awarded the Newbery Medal in 1980.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
A number line that does not include the 1 indicates a later printing; book-club editions typically lack the publisher's printing code and a printed jacket price.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal* by Joan W. Blos a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-gathering-of-days-a-new-england-girls-journal
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.