# Is "In the Night Kitchen" by Maurice Sendak a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak (Harper & Row, 1970) is identified by: First-issue dust jacket carries the printed price on the front flap with the code '1070' at the lower front flap and exactly seven titles listed on the rear flap; no Caldecott Honor seal is printed on the jacket (added on later printings). The US Harper & Row 1970 edition is the true first; Sendak was American and Harper was his primary publisher, and the Bodley Head UK edition followed.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First-issue dust jacket carries the printed price on the front flap with the code '1070' at the lower front flap and exactly seven titles listed on the rear flap; no Caldecott Honor seal is printed on the jacket (added on later printings)
- Bound in cream cloth with the pictorial paste-on label to the front board
- Publisher imprint reads Harper & Row
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Maurice Sendak |
| Publisher | Harper & Row |
| Year | 1970 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | First-issue dust jacket carries the printed price on the front flap with the code '1070' at the lower front flap and exactly seven titles… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First-issue dust jacket carries the printed price on the front flap with the code '1070' at the lower front flap and exactly seven titles listed on the rear flap; no Caldecott Honor seal is printed on the jacket (added on later printings). Bound in cream cloth with the pictorial paste-on label to the front board.

## Is this the true first?
The US Harper & Row 1970 edition is the true first; Sendak was American and Harper was his primary publisher, and the Bodley Head UK edition followed. The book was a 1971 Caldecott Honor recipient, so first-issue jackets predate any Caldecott seal.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Book-club editions are smaller, lack the '1070' jacket code and the printed price, are printed on thinner paper, and often have a blind-stamped indentation on the rear board; later printings add the Caldecott Honor seal to the jacket.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *In the Night Kitchen* by Maurice Sendak a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/in-the-night-kitchen
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.