Is My Little Fur Family a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First printing is identified by format and materials, not by a slug: the miniature book measures roughly 2¾ x 3¾ inches and is bound in real rabbit fur over paper boards, and it was issued in a lidded pictorial cardboard box with a round die-cut hole in the top through which the fur is exposed and can be touched
• The fur binding and the box are the operative points — later editions were made larger and bound in imitation fur or with no fur at all, so any copy in a larger trim, or in cloth/paper boards without genuine fur, is not the 1946 issue, and a copy without its box is incomplete as dealers describe it
• Harper's practice of the period places a two-letter month/year code on the copyright page (first letter = month, second = year; the year letter for 1946 is V), commonly alongside a 'FIRST EDITION' statement, so a fall-1946 first printing should show a code ending in -V. No dealer consulted quotes the actual code for this title, so treat the code as a confirmatory check on the copy in hand rather than as the primary point
• A copyright line naming Harper & Row is a post-1962 reprint and cannot be the first

How Harper & Brothers marked a first edition

• 1912-1949: month/year letter code on copyright page. Month: A=Jan, B=Feb, C=Mar, D=Apr, E=May, F=Jun, G=Jul, H=Aug, I=Sep, K=Oct, L=Nov, M=Dec (J skipped).
• From 1922: also began printing 'First Edition' on the copyright page in addition to the code.

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-only true first: Harper & Brothers, New York, autumn 1946 — the census claim is correct. No simultaneous or prior British edition surfaced; the book is collected as an American first. The famous point here is one of issue and survival rather than edition: only the 1946 printing carries genuine New Zealand rabbit fur (Brown insisted on it), the printing ran to roughly 50,000 copies, and moths got into Harper's warehouse and destroyed a large part of it — which is why intact fur-bound copies in the die-cut box are the fragile rarity the census flags, and why Harper switched to imitation fur and larger formats afterwards. Every subsequent Harper & Brothers, Harper & Row and HarperCollins reissue is 'first thus' at best.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented. The reprint tells for this title are format-driven rather than copyright-page-driven: imitation fur or plain boards in place of real fur, a larger trim, absence of the die-cut display box, and a Harper & Row or HarperCollins imprint on the copyright page each mark a later edition.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Little Fur Family a first edition?

A first edition of Little Fur Family by Margaret Wise Brown (illustrated by Garth Williams) (Harper & Brothers) is identified by: First printing is identified by format and materials, not by a slug: the miniature book measures roughly 2¾ x 3¾ inches and is bound in real rabbit fur over paper boards, and it was issued in a lidded pictorial cardboard box with a round die-cut hole in the top through which the fur is exposed and can be touched.

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-only true first: Harper & Brothers, New York, autumn 1946 — the census claim is correct.

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

No book-club issue is documented. The reprint tells for this title are format-driven rather than copyright-page-driven: imitation fur or plain boards in place of real fur, a larger trim, absence of the die-cut display box, and a Harper & Row or HarperCollins imprint on the copyright page each mark a later edition.

I have a first edition of Little Fur Family — 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.