# Is "Lincoln: A Photobiography" by Russell Freedman a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman (Clarion Books, 1987) is identified by: First edition 1987, Clarion Books, a Houghton Mifflin imprint (New York/Boston). US true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition 1987, Clarion Books, a Houghton Mifflin imprint (New York/Boston)
- The first printing carries a complete descending number line ending in 1 (10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1) on the copyright page, per the Houghton Mifflin practice in use since the 1970s
- Photo-illustrated; pictorial cloth; first-state jacket without the Newbery Medal seal
- Publisher imprint reads Clarion Books
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Russell Freedman |
| Publisher | Clarion Books |
| Year | 1987 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | First edition 1987, Clarion Books, a Houghton Mifflin imprint (New York/Boston) |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First edition 1987, Clarion Books, a Houghton Mifflin imprint (New York/Boston). The first printing carries a complete descending number line ending in 1 (10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1) on the copyright page, per the Houghton Mifflin practice in use since the 1970s. Photo-illustrated; pictorial cloth; first-state jacket without the Newbery Medal seal.

## Is this the true first?
US true first. Newbery Medal 1988; the first nonfiction title to win in roughly three decades.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
A number line whose lowest number is not 1 indicates a later printing. Book-club editions typically lack a jacket price; post-award jacket states add the Newbery seal.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Lincoln: A Photobiography* by Russell Freedman a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/lincoln-a-photobiography
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.