# Is "Misty of Chincoteague" by Marguerite Henry (illus. Wesley Dennis) a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry (illus. Wesley Dennis) (Rand McNally & Company, 1947) is identified by: The first printing is identified on the copyright page by the statement "Edition of 1947" accompanied by the letter "A"; one ABAA-listed dealer states the point flatly as "Edition 1947 and A on the copyright page." The binding is light blue cloth stamped in yellow on spine and front cover, with color pictorial endpapers of a pony crossing a marsh, a color pictorial title page, and black-and-white illustrations throughout by Wesley Dennis; the book measures roughly 9.5 x 6.75 inches and collates to 173/174 pages. US edition is the true first: Rand McNally & Company, Chicago, 1947 — the census claim is confirmed.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The first printing is identified on the copyright page by the statement "Edition of 1947" accompanied by the letter "A"; one ABAA-listed dealer states the point flatly as "Edition 1947 and A on the copyright page." The binding is light blue cloth stamped in yellow on spine and front cover, with color pictorial endpapers of a pony crossing a marsh, a color pictorial title page, and black-and-white illustrations throughout by Wesley Dennis; the book measures roughly 9.5 x 6.75 inches and collates to 173/174 pages
- The dust jacket is color pictorial and should be unclipped with the price present at the front flap
- The Rand McNally "Edition of [year]" convention is independently corroborated by later copies stated "Edition of 1953" on the copyright page
- Publisher imprint reads Rand McNally & Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Marguerite Henry (illus. Wesley Dennis) |
| Publisher | Rand McNally & Company |
| Year | 1947 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | The first printing is identified on the copyright page by the statement "Edition of 1947" accompanied by the letter "A"; one ABAA-listed… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
The first printing is identified on the copyright page by the statement "Edition of 1947" accompanied by the letter "A"; one ABAA-listed dealer states the point flatly as "Edition 1947 and A on the copyright page." The binding is light blue cloth stamped in yellow on spine and front cover, with color pictorial endpapers of a pony crossing a marsh, a color pictorial title page, and black-and-white illustrations throughout by Wesley Dennis; the book measures roughly 9.5 x 6.75 inches and collates to 173/174 pages. The dust jacket is color pictorial and should be unclipped with the price present at the front flap. The Rand McNally "Edition of [year]" convention is independently corroborated by later copies stated "Edition of 1953" on the copyright page.

## Is this the true first?
US edition is the true first: Rand McNally & Company, Chicago, 1947 — the census claim is confirmed. No prior serialization or foreign-language appearance is documented, and no simultaneous UK issue is documented; British editions followed later and are reprints of the American text, not co-firsts. The book was a 1948 Newbery Honor, which post-dates publication.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Rand McNally printings state a later year in the same slot ("Edition of 1948," "Edition of 1953," etc.) and lack the "A" — the single most reliable reprint tell. Later Scholastic and Aladdin/Simon & Schuster paperback and hardcover issues are reprints of the text and are not the first in any sense. No distinct blind-stamped book-club issue of the 1947 Rand McNally is documented in the sources consulted.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Misty of Chincoteague* by Marguerite Henry (illus. Wesley Dennis) a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/misty-of-chincoteague
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.