# Is "Pippi Longstocking" by Astrid Lindgren a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren (Rabén & Sjögren, Stockholm, 1945) is identified by: Swedish true first: Pippi Långstrump, Rabén & Sjögren, Stockholm, published 26 November 1945, 174 pages, illustrated by Ingrid Vang Nyman (her Swedish debut), in the publisher's decorated cloth binding. The Swedish Rabén & Sjögren edition of November 1945 is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Swedish true first: Pippi Långstrump, Rabén & Sjögren, Stockholm, published 26 November 1945, 174 pages, illustrated by Ingrid Vang Nyman (her Swedish debut), in the publisher's decorated cloth binding
- The manuscript won the Rabén & Sjögren children's-book competition that closed 1 August 1945, and Vang Nyman's artwork is the most reliable marker of the Swedish first line
- First edition in English: The Viking Press, New York, 1950 (dated 16 October 1950), translated by Florence Lamborn and newly illustrated by Louis S. Glanzman — Vang Nyman's pictures were not carried over
- First British edition: Oxford University Press, London, 1954, in a wholly separate translation by Edna Hurup and with different illustrations again, by Richard Kennedy
- Because the illustrator differs in each line, the pictures identify the edition family before any statement on the copyright page does
- Publisher imprint reads Rabén & Sjögren, Stockholm
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Astrid Lindgren |
| Publisher | Rabén & Sjögren, Stockholm |
| Year | 1945 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Swedish true first: Pippi Långstrump, Rabén & Sjögren, Stockholm, published 26 November 1945, 174 pages, illustrated by Ingrid Vang Nyman… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Swedish true first: Pippi Långstrump, Rabén & Sjögren, Stockholm, published 26 November 1945, 174 pages, illustrated by Ingrid Vang Nyman (her Swedish debut), in the publisher's decorated cloth binding. The manuscript won the Rabén & Sjögren children's-book competition that closed 1 August 1945, and Vang Nyman's artwork is the most reliable marker of the Swedish first line. First edition in English: The Viking Press, New York, 1950 (dated 16 October 1950), translated by Florence Lamborn and newly illustrated by Louis S. Glanzman — Vang Nyman's pictures were not carried over. First British edition: Oxford University Press, London, 1954, in a wholly separate translation by Edna Hurup and with different illustrations again, by Richard Kennedy. Because the illustrator differs in each line, the pictures identify the edition family before any statement on the copyright page does.

## Is this the true first?
The Swedish Rabén & Sjögren edition of November 1945 is the true first. Among English editions the US precedes the UK — Viking, New York, 1950 by nine years over Oxford University Press, London, 1954 — but, unusually, the two are not the same book: Viking carries Florence Lamborn's translation with Glanzman's illustrations, while OUP carries Edna Hurup's independent translation with Richard Kennedy's illustrations. Both are collected, and each is the first edition of its own translation rather than a reprint of the other, so "first English edition" must be qualified by translation. Modern OUP editions illustrated by Tony Ross continue the Hurup text and are "first thus" only.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
A 1950 Viking book-club issue of Pippi Longstocking is documented and is a genuine trap: dealers describe its dust jacket as near-identical to the trade first, so jacket art cannot be used to separate them. No published point list distinguishing the club issue from the trade first is recorded in the sources consulted; the copyright page and the jacket flap must both be checked.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Pippi Longstocking* by Astrid Lindgren a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/pippi-longstocking
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.