# Is "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Forbes a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1943) is identified by: First edition 1943, Houghton Mifflin (Boston). US true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition 1943, Houghton Mifflin (Boston)
- First printing has the title page dated 1943 and a copyright page without later-printing statements
- Illustrations by Lynd Ward; color frontispiece and pictorial map endpapers; issued in cloth
- Wartime paper
- Publisher imprint reads Houghton Mifflin Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Esther Forbes |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin Company |
| Year | 1943 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | First edition 1943, Houghton Mifflin (Boston) |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First edition 1943, Houghton Mifflin (Boston). First printing has the title page dated 1943 and a copyright page without later-printing statements. Illustrations by Lynd Ward; color frontispiece and pictorial map endpapers; issued in cloth. Wartime paper.

## Is this the true first?
US true first. Won the Newbery Medal in 1944.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Houghton Mifflin later printings add printing lines/dates (copies marked through the twenty-first printing and beyond exist); book-club and reprint editions lack the first-printing dating.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Johnny Tremain* by Esther Forbes a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/johnny-tremain
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.