# Is "Old Yeller" by Fred Gipson a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Old Yeller by Fred Gipson (Harper & Brothers, 1956) is identified by: Harper & Brothers, New York, 1956, illustrated by Carl Burger; collation approximately [x] + 158 pages. The census claim is corrected: the American Harper & Brothers 1956 is the true first, but the first UK edition is Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1957 — not Collins.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Harper & Brothers, New York, 1956, illustrated by Carl Burger; collation approximately [x] + 158 pages
- Dealer descriptions agree that the first printing is identified by the Library of Congress card catalog number on the copyright page with no later-printing or reprint statement, rather than by a printed "First Edition" line
- The binding is a two-part case: green cloth-patterned paper over boards with a black cloth spine, stamped in gilt
- The jacket is lemon-yellow, reproducing the frontispiece image of the boy and his dog, with the price present at the front flap and the code "No
- 7042A" printed at the foot of that front flap — the flap code is the most-cited single point, and price-clipped jackets forfeit it
- Harper's letter printing code (month-letter/year-letter) is documented for the period but is not cited by any of the dealers describing Old Yeller firsts, so it should not be relied on as a point for this title
- Publisher imprint reads Harper & Brothers

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Fred Gipson |
| Publisher | Harper & Brothers |
| Year | 1956 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | Harper & Brothers, New York, 1956, illustrated by Carl Burger; collation approximately [x] + 158 pages |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Harper & Brothers, New York, 1956, illustrated by Carl Burger; collation approximately [x] + 158 pages. Dealer descriptions agree that the first printing is identified by the Library of Congress card catalog number on the copyright page with no later-printing or reprint statement, rather than by a printed "First Edition" line. The binding is a two-part case: green cloth-patterned paper over boards with a black cloth spine, stamped in gilt. The jacket is lemon-yellow, reproducing the frontispiece image of the boy and his dog, with the price present at the front flap and the code "No. 7042A" printed at the foot of that front flap — the flap code is the most-cited single point, and price-clipped jackets forfeit it. Harper's letter printing code (month-letter/year-letter) is documented for the period but is not cited by any of the dealers describing Old Yeller firsts, so it should not be relied on as a point for this title.

## Is this the true first?
The census claim is corrected: the American Harper & Brothers 1956 is the true first, but the first UK edition is Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1957 — not Collins. The Hodder first UK printing states "First Published 1957" on the copyright page with no reprint statement. Only the Harper 1956 is the true first; the Hodder 1957 is collected as the first English edition.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No title-specific book-club point is documented in the dealer literature for Old Yeller. Apply the standard mid-century tells: an unpriced jacket, a blind-stamped square/circle/dot at the lower rear board, and smaller trim on lighter paper stock than the Harper trade issue. Later Harper/HarperCollins, Scholastic and HarperClassics printings are reprints; jackets or back panels mentioning Gipson's later books or the 1957 Newbery Honor or Disney film postdate the first printing.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Old Yeller* by Fred Gipson a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/old-yeller
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.