# Is "A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers" by Nancy Willard a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers by Nancy Willard (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1981) is identified by: First edition published 1981 by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York. US true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition published 1981 by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York
- First printing is identified by 'First edition' stated on the copyright page together with the full Harcourt letter line (the line of letters; a first printing retains the complete sequence including the earliest letter)
- Illustrations by Alice and Martin Provensen; pictorial cloth
- First-state dust jacket carries no award seal or medal sticker
- Publisher imprint reads Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Nancy Willard |
| Publisher | Harcourt Brace Jovanovich |
| Year | 1981 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | First edition published 1981 by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First edition published 1981 by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York. First printing is identified by 'First edition' stated on the copyright page together with the full Harcourt letter line (the line of letters; a first printing retains the complete sequence including the earliest letter). Illustrations by Alice and Martin Provensen; pictorial cloth. First-state dust jacket carries no award seal or medal sticker.

## Is this the true first?
US true first. Newbery Medal 1982. Also a 1982 Caldecott Honor — the first book to receive both the Newbery and a Caldecott citation.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
A shortened Harcourt letter line (earliest letter removed) indicates a later printing. Book-club editions are unpriced and typically lack the letter line.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers* by Nancy Willard a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-visit-to-william-blakes-inn-poems-for-innocent-and-experie
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.