# Is "Mama's Little Girl" by Erskine Caldwell a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Mama's Little Girl by Erskine Caldwell (The Bradford Press, 1932) is identified by: Slim pamphlet in wrappers; a brief story issued in a tiny limited printing (roughly 75 copies), illustrated by Alfred Morang. US first; an early ephemeral piece issued the same year as Tobacco Road.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Slim pamphlet in wrappers; a brief story issued in a tiny limited printing (roughly 75 copies), illustrated by Alfred Morang
- Identified by the Bradford Press imprint and the printed wrappers
- A scarce ephemeral first
- Publisher imprint reads The Bradford Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Erskine Caldwell |
| Publisher | The Bradford Press |
| Year | 1932 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Slim pamphlet in wrappers; a brief story issued in a tiny limited printing (roughly 75 copies), illustrated by Alfred Morang |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Slim pamphlet in wrappers; a brief story issued in a tiny limited printing (roughly 75 copies), illustrated by Alfred Morang. Identified by the Bradford Press imprint and the printed wrappers. A scarce ephemeral first.

## Is this the true first?
US first; an early ephemeral piece issued the same year as Tobacco Road. Genuinely scarce, with only a handful recorded institutionally.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club or trade reprint of the original pamphlet; later collected appearances of the text are separate printings, not this pamphlet.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Mama's Little Girl* by Erskine Caldwell a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/mamas-little-girl
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.