# Is "On the Banks of Plum Creek" by Laura Ingalls Wilder a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Harper & Brothers, 1937) is identified by: True first illustrated by Helen Sewell and Mildred Boyle. US Harper & Brothers first, Sewell and Boyle-illustrated, 1937.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first illustrated by Helen Sewell and Mildred Boyle
- Copyright page states First Edition with the Harper letter-code I-M (September 1937)
- 1937 date; first-issue dust jacket with the original printed price
- Newbery Honor book
- Publisher imprint reads Harper & Brothers
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Laura Ingalls Wilder |
| Publisher | Harper & Brothers |
| Year | 1937 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | True first illustrated by Helen Sewell and Mildred Boyle |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
True first illustrated by Helen Sewell and Mildred Boyle. Copyright page states First Edition with the Harper letter-code I-M (September 1937); 1937 date; first-issue dust jacket with the original printed price. Newbery Honor book.

## Is this the true first?
US Harper & Brothers first, Sewell and Boyle-illustrated, 1937. The 1953 Garth Williams edition is later.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Garth Williams art indicates the post-1953 edition; later printings lack the stated First Edition and the I-M code.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *On the Banks of Plum Creek* by Laura Ingalls Wilder a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/on-the-banks-of-plum-creek
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.