# Is "Stuart Little" by E. B. White (illus. Garth Williams) a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Stuart Little by E. B. White (illus. Garth Williams) (Harper & Brothers, 1945) is identified by: First edition: Harper & Brothers 1945, with the Harper letter-code I-U on the copyright page marking the first printing, bound in tan cloth lettered on the spine, in the first-issue color pictorial dust jacket with Garth Williams art carrying its printed price. US Harper is the true first (Garth Williams's first major book).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition: Harper & Brothers 1945, with the Harper letter-code I-U on the copyright page marking the first printing, bound in tan cloth lettered on the spine, in the first-issue color pictorial dust jacket with Garth Williams art carrying its printed price
- No later-printing statement
- Publisher imprint reads Harper & Brothers
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | E. B. White (illus. Garth Williams) |
| Publisher | Harper & Brothers |
| Year | 1945 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | First edition: Harper & Brothers 1945, with the Harper letter-code I-U on the copyright page marking the first printing, bound in tan cloth… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First edition: Harper & Brothers 1945, with the Harper letter-code I-U on the copyright page marking the first printing, bound in tan cloth lettered on the spine, in the first-issue color pictorial dust jacket with Garth Williams art carrying its printed price. No later-printing statement.

## Is this the true first?
US Harper is the true first (Garth Williams's first major book). The Harper copyright-page code and the printed price first-issue jacket are the markers.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Book-club editions omit the I-U Harper code, drop the price, are smaller, and carry a board blind-stamp.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Stuart Little* by E. B. White (illus. Garth Williams) a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/stuart-little
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.