# Is "By the Shores of Silver Lake" by Laura Ingalls Wilder a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Harper & Brothers, 1939) is identified by: True first illustrated by Helen Sewell and Mildred Boyle. US Harper & Brothers first, illustrated by Sewell and Boyle.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first illustrated by Helen Sewell and Mildred Boyle
- Copyright page states First Edition; no date on the title page; publisher's tan cloth stamped in brown; first-issue dust jacket carries the original price on the front flap
- A Newbery Honor book
- Publisher imprint reads Harper & Brothers
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Laura Ingalls Wilder |
| Publisher | Harper & Brothers |
| Year | 1939 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | True first illustrated by Helen Sewell and Mildred Boyle |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
True first illustrated by Helen Sewell and Mildred Boyle. Copyright page states First Edition; no date on the title page; publisher's tan cloth stamped in brown; first-issue dust jacket carries the original price on the front flap. A Newbery Honor book.

## Is this the true first?
US Harper & Brothers first, illustrated by Sewell and Boyle. The later Garth Williams edition (from 1953 onward) is a re-illustrated reprint, not the first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Garth Williams art indicates the post-1953 edition. Book-club copies typically lack the price on the jacket flap.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *By the Shores of Silver Lake* by Laura Ingalls Wilder a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/by-the-shores-of-silver-lake
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.