Is My Little Bear a First Edition?

The points of issue

• True first is the Harper & Brothers issue: the imprint reads Harper & Brothers on the title page and jacket, and any copy carrying the Harper & Row imprint postdates the 1962 merger and is a reprint
• The imprint is necessary but not sufficient — reprints struck between 1957 and 1961 also read Harper & Brothers
• Bound in half black cloth over pictorial boards, 8vo
• The jacket should be present and priced (price present at the front flap, unclipped)
• Bauman Rare Books records the code "40-80 / No
• 7690A" at the front flap of the first-issue jacket (a single-source point, attributed rather than corroborated)

How Harper & Brothers marked a first edition

• From 1922: also began printing 'First Edition' on the copyright page in addition to the code.
• Letter code discontinued after 1949; later Harper & Row used standard statements/number lines.

Full Harper & Brothers first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
4. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
6. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

US precedes. Harper & Brothers, New York, 1957 is the true first, and the first title in Harper's I Can Read series. The census note "US-only" is imprecise: a UK edition followed from World's Work (Kingswood, Surrey) in 1958, but it is later and not the true first. The US Harper & Brothers issue is the edition collected.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No dedicated book-club issue documented for the 1957 Harper & Brothers printing in the sources consulted. The practical reprint tell is the imprint: Harper & Row on the title page or jacket spine indicates a post-1962 reprint. Later I Can Read reissues and Harper Trophy paperbacks are common and are not confused with the first.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Little Bear a first edition?

A first edition of Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik (illus. Maurice Sendak) (Harper & Brothers) is identified by: True first is the Harper & Brothers issue: the imprint reads Harper & Brothers on the title page and jacket, and any copy carrying the Harper & Row imprint postdates the 1962 merger and is a reprint.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. US precedes.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

No dedicated book-club issue documented for the 1957 Harper & Brothers printing in the sources consulted. The practical reprint tell is the imprint: Harper & Row on the title page or jacket spine indicates a post-1962 reprint. Later I Can Read reissues and Harper Trophy paperbacks are common and are not confused with the first.

I have a first edition of Little Bear — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.