# Is "Goodnight Moon" by Margaret Wise Brown (illus. Clement Hurd) a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown (illus. Clement Hurd) (Harper & Brothers, 1947) is identified by: There is no reliable copyright-page point: the 1947 Harper & Brothers first edition carries no printing statement, so the firmest identifiers are the title-page imprint and the dust jacket. US Harper & Brothers 1947 is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- There is no reliable copyright-page point: the 1947 Harper & Brothers first edition carries no printing statement, so the firmest identifiers are the title-page imprint and the dust jacket
- The title page must read 'Harper & Brothers' (not 'Harper & Row', which indicates a later printing), with a green cloth spine over flat (non-glossy) boards
- The first-state jacket shows the imprint 'HARPER & BROTHERS - NEW YORK & LONDON' on the rear panel (later jackets drop '& LONDON') and carries an advertisement for 'Little Fur Family' on the rear flap (later jackets advertise 'Little Chicken')
- Jacket price points remain debated and unconfirmed, so they should not be relied upon
- Publisher imprint reads Harper & Brothers
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Margaret Wise Brown (illus. Clement Hurd) |
| Publisher | Harper & Brothers |
| Year | 1947 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | There is no reliable copyright-page point: the 1947 Harper & Brothers first edition carries no printing statement, so the firmest… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
There is no reliable copyright-page point: the 1947 Harper & Brothers first edition carries no printing statement, so the firmest identifiers are the title-page imprint and the dust jacket. The title page must read 'Harper & Brothers' (not 'Harper & Row', which indicates a later printing), with a green cloth spine over flat (non-glossy) boards. The first-state jacket shows the imprint 'HARPER & BROTHERS - NEW YORK & LONDON' on the rear panel (later jackets drop '& LONDON') and carries an advertisement for 'Little Fur Family' on the rear flap (later jackets advertise 'Little Chicken'). Jacket price points remain debated and unconfirmed, so they should not be relied upon.

## Is this the true first?
US Harper & Brothers 1947 is the true first. The base title is already in the live index; this entry records the title-page imprint and first-state jacket points. True first printings cannot be conclusively distinguished from the text alone, so jacket evidence is essential.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings show 'Harper & Row' on the title page; many surviving copies are later printings. The original-issue jacket points (the 'NEW YORK & LONDON' imprint and the 'Little Fur Family' rear-flap advertisement) are absent on later jackets.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Goodnight Moon* by Margaret Wise Brown (illus. Clement Hurd) a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/goodnight-moon
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.