# Is "A Light in the Attic" by Shel Silverstein a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein (Harper & Row, 1981) is identified by: The first printing states "FIRST EDITION" on the copyright page with no later printings listed — that statement is what governs. US-only true first: Harper & Row (Junior Books), New York, 1981.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The first printing states "FIRST EDITION" on the copyright page with no later printings listed — that statement is what governs
- Bound in publisher's gray cloth over boards, the spine and front cover stamped (dealers describe the stamping variously as gilt or silver) with Silverstein's facsimile signature on the front board; octavo, roughly 9 x 7 inches, pagination cited as 167 text pages plus index leaves (dealers give [173] or 176 pp)
- The jacket carries the date code "0981" at the lower front flap, Silverstein's drawings on the flaps, a close-up author portrait on the rear panel, and the price present at the front flap
- Critical trap: the "0981" flap code alone does NOT make a first — dealers document early copies in unclipped "0981" jackets whose copyright pages lack the FIRST EDITION statement, i.e. later printings in first-state jackets
- Publisher imprint reads Harper & Row
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Shel Silverstein |
| Publisher | Harper & Row |
| Year | 1981 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | The first printing states "FIRST EDITION" on the copyright page with no later printings listed — that statement is what governs |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The first printing states "FIRST EDITION" on the copyright page with no later printings listed — that statement is what governs. Bound in publisher's gray cloth over boards, the spine and front cover stamped (dealers describe the stamping variously as gilt or silver) with Silverstein's facsimile signature on the front board; octavo, roughly 9 x 7 inches, pagination cited as 167 text pages plus index leaves (dealers give [173] or 176 pp). The jacket carries the date code "0981" at the lower front flap, Silverstein's drawings on the flaps, a close-up author portrait on the rear panel, and the price present at the front flap. Critical trap: the "0981" flap code alone does NOT make a first — dealers document early copies in unclipped "0981" jackets whose copyright pages lack the FIRST EDITION statement, i.e. later printings in first-state jackets.

## Is this the true first?
US-only true first: Harper & Row (Junior Books), New York, 1981. No UK or other edition precedes it, and no earlier appearance of the collection is documented. The collected issue is the trade binding, ISBN 0-06-025673-7; a reinforced library binding at ISBN 0-06-025674-5 exists and is not the collected trade first. Later HarperCollins reissues of the title are "first thus."

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted (dealers habitually certify copies as "not a book club edition" without describing a club state). The reprint tells that are documented: the library-binding ISBN 0-06-025674-5, and later printings that omit the FIRST EDITION statement while still wearing a "0981"-coded jacket. When the jacket and copyright page disagree, the copyright page decides.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Light in the Attic* by Shel Silverstein a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-light-in-the-attic
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.