# Is "Call It Courage" by Armstrong Sperry a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry (The Macmillan Company, 1940) is identified by: First edition 1940, Macmillan (New York). US true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition 1940, Macmillan (New York)
- First printing dated 1940 on the copyright page with no reprint-history list
- Author-illustrated by Armstrong Sperry; earliest issue in pictorial cloth with first-state jacket lacking the Newbery Medal seal
- Publisher imprint reads The Macmillan Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Armstrong Sperry |
| Publisher | The Macmillan Company |
| Year | 1940 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | First edition 1940, Macmillan (New York) |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition 1940, Macmillan (New York). First printing dated 1940 on the copyright page with no reprint-history list. Author-illustrated by Armstrong Sperry; earliest issue in pictorial cloth with first-state jacket lacking the Newbery Medal seal.

## Is this the true first?
US true first. Won the Newbery Medal in 1941. Published in the United Kingdom under the alternate title 'The Boy Who Was Afraid' (John Lane / The Bodley Head), a first-thus title variant rather than a precedent first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Macmillan reprint-history lines on the copyright page indicate a later printing. Jackets bearing the Newbery Medal seal are later states.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Call It Courage* by Armstrong Sperry a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/call-it-courage
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.