# Is "Five Little Peppers and How They Grew" by Margaret Sidney (Harriett Mulford Stone Lothrop) a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney (Harriett Mulford Stone Lothrop) (D. Lothrop and Company, 1880) is identified by: Serialized in the children's magazine Wide Awake in 1880, then issued in book form that same year by D. The book is commonly cited as 1881, which is the date later Lothrop printings carry on the copyright page, but the true first edition/first printing has a copyright page dated 1880, consistent with its Wide Awake serialization and D.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Serialized in the children's magazine Wide Awake in 1880, then issued in book form that same year by D. Lothrop and Company of Boston, running to 410 pages
- A key textual first-edition point occurs in the caption to the illustration on page 231, which reads 'said Polly' in the true first edition rather than 'said Phronsie' as corrected in later printings
- First-edition copies also have the ampersand in the publisher's cover monogram stamped in gold and carry rear advertisements with no mention of a reader contest, both features altered in subsequent printings
- Publisher imprint reads D. Lothrop and Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Margaret Sidney (Harriett Mulford Stone Lothrop) |
| Publisher | D. Lothrop and Company |
| Year | 1880 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | Serialized in the children's magazine Wide Awake in 1880, then issued in book form that same year by D. Lothrop and Company of Boston… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Serialized in the children's magazine Wide Awake in 1880, then issued in book form that same year by D. Lothrop and Company of Boston, running to 410 pages. A key textual first-edition point occurs in the caption to the illustration on page 231, which reads 'said Polly' in the true first edition rather than 'said Phronsie' as corrected in later printings. First-edition copies also have the ampersand in the publisher's cover monogram stamped in gold and carry rear advertisements with no mention of a reader contest, both features altered in subsequent printings.

## Is this the true first?
The book is commonly cited as 1881, which is the date later Lothrop printings carry on the copyright page, but the true first edition/first printing has a copyright page dated 1880, consistent with its Wide Awake serialization and D. Lothrop's practice of rushing holiday juveniles into print before year's end.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Lothrop printings show 1881 rather than 1880 on the copyright page, read 'said Phronsie' rather than 'said Polly' in the page-231 caption, and add rear advertising for a reader contest that first-edition copies lack.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Five Little Peppers and How They Grew* by Margaret Sidney (Harriett Mulford Stone Lothrop) a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/five-little-peppers-and-how-they-grew
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.