# Is "On the Way Home" by Laura Ingalls Wilder a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of On the Way Home by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Harper & Row, 1962) is identified by: US Harper & Row first. US Harper & Row first; a non-fiction diary, not part of the novel series.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- US Harper & Row first
- Wilder's 1894 travel diary of the family's move from De Smet, South Dakota, to Mansfield, Missouri, with a setting (connecting narrative) by Rose Wilder Lane
- First printing is identified by the absence of any later-printing statement on the copyright page; first-issue dust jacket carries the original price on the front flap
- Publisher imprint reads Harper & Row
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Laura Ingalls Wilder |
| Publisher | Harper & Row |
| Year | 1962 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | US Harper & Row first |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
US Harper & Row first. Wilder's 1894 travel diary of the family's move from De Smet, South Dakota, to Mansfield, Missouri, with a setting (connecting narrative) by Rose Wilder Lane. First printing is identified by the absence of any later-printing statement on the copyright page; first-issue dust jacket carries the original price on the front flap.

## Is this the true first?
US Harper & Row first; a non-fiction diary, not part of the novel series.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings carry a later-printing statement on the copyright page; book-club copies lack the price on the jacket flap.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *On the Way Home* by Laura Ingalls Wilder a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/on-the-way-home
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.