Is My Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Houghton Mifflin's house practice of the period is the identifying method, and it is negative rather than stated: the date 1939 appears in arabic numerals on the title page of first printings and is removed on subsequent printings, and the copyright page carries no later-printing statement and no later date (Houghton Mifflin only began consistently printing a 'first printing' statement in the late 1950s)
• Format is oblong quarto (roughly 9 the printed price x 8 the printed price in.) in publisher's pictorial cloth stamped in red and black, with illustrated endpapers; dealers describe the cloth variously as tan, wheat, or grey, so cloth shade is not a reliable printing point
• The pictorial red jacket is where the issue work is done: the early jacket carries an advertisement for Burton's Choo Choo at the rear inner flap, shows no author credit on the spine panel, and has 'H.M.Co.' on a yellow ground at the spine
• First-issue jackets have the original (lowest) price present at the front flap, unclipped; a later-issue jacket on an otherwise-1939 book shows a higher flap price
• Price-clipped jackets cannot be placed on that point

How Houghton Mifflin marked a first edition

• Merger-lineage window (Hurd & Houghton 1864 → Houghton, Osgood & Co. 1878–1880 → Houghton, Mifflin & Co. from 1880): still no 'First Edition' wording; identify by title-page date matching the copyright date, by the earli…
• Late-19th to mid-20th century (c.1880s–1950s): the operative tell is the title page. Houghton Mifflin almost invariably printed the year of first publication, in Arabic numerals, on the title page of a first printing and…

Full Houghton Mifflin 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 true first confirmed: Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1939, and it is the sole first — no earlier or simultaneous British or foreign-language edition is documented in the sources consulted, and non-US editions are later. The census claim of a US-only true first stands as written; there is no UK-vs-US precedence question for this title.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No 1939-era book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted. The routine confusions are (a) later Houghton Mifflin printings, told by removal of the 1939 date from the title page and/or a later-printing notice on the copyright page — dealers catalogue printings well into the twenties; (b) Scholastic and similar paperback reprints from the 1970s onward, which carry ISBNs; and (c) a first-printing book wearing a later-issue jacket, which the higher flap price and jacket state reveal. The acknowledgement to Dickie Birkenbush appears in early and later printings alike and should not be treated as a first-printing point.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel a first edition?

A first edition of Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton (Houghton Mifflin) is identified by: Houghton Mifflin's house practice of the period is the identifying method, and it is negative rather than stated: the date 1939 appears in arabic numerals on the title page of first printings and is removed on subsequent printings, and the copyright page carries no later-printing statement and no later date (Houghton Mifflin only began consistently printing a 'first printing' statement in the late 1950s).

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 true first confirmed: Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1939, and it is the sole first — no earlier or simultaneous British or foreign-language edition is documented in the sources consulted, and non-US editions are later.

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

No 1939-era book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted. The routine confusions are (a) later Houghton Mifflin printings, told by removal of the 1939 date from the title page and/or a later-printing notice on the copyright page — dealers catalogue printings well into the twenties; (b) Scholastic and similar paperback reprints from the 1970s onward, which carry ISBNs; and (c) a first-printing book wearing a later-issue jacket, which the higher flap price and jacket state reveal. The ac

I have a first edition of Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel — 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.