Is My Copy of 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. 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 a fragile rarity, 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.P-042764

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.

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. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.