2 E. B. White (illus. Garth Williams) first editions are documented on this shelf, from Stuart Little (1945) to Charlotte's Web (1952). Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that E. B. White (illus. Garth Williams) 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.

Identification only, per the house rule: no prices and no appraisals here. Checking a E. B. White (illus. Garth Williams) copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.

Stuart Little — 1945 · Harper & BrothersFirst edition: Harper & Brothers 1945, with the Harper letter-code I-U on the copyright page marking the first printing, bound in tan cloth lettered on the spine, in the first-issue color pictorial dust jacket with Garth Williams art carrying its printed price. No later-printing statement. US Harper is the true first (Garth Williams's first major book). The Harper copyright-page code and the printed price first-issue jacket are the markers. Book-club editions omit the I-U Harper code, drop the price, are smaller, and carry a board blind-stamp.
Charlotte's Web — 1952 · Harper & BrothersFirst printing carries the Harper code 'I-B' at the foot of the copyright page: in the Harper & Brothers code the first letter is the month (A=Jan ... H=Aug, I=Sept, K=Oct — the letter J is skipped) and the second is the year (B=1952), so 'I-B' = September 1952. 'First Edition' is also stated on the copyright page above the code. Because Harper could retain the 'First Edition' wording while advancing the code on…. The US Harper & Brothers edition (published October 15, 1952) is the true first. The UK Hamish Hamilton edition also appeared in 1952 but follows the American issue. Identify the first printing by the 'I-B' (September 1952) copyright-page code, not by the 'First Edition' slug alone. Book-club editions read 'Book Club Edition' on the front dust-jacket flap, carry NO two-letter Harper code on the copyright page, and show no price on the jacket; they are printed on bulkier, lower-grade paper and often bear the small blind-stamped dot on the rear board typical of club bindings.

More Children's & YA shelves: E. Nesbit, E.L. Konigsburg, Elizabeth George Speare, Eoin Colfer, Erin Entrada Kelly, Frances Hodgson Burnett.

← All authors · All genres · part of the First-Edition Identification resource.