# Is "The Cat in the Hat" by Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel) a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel) (Houghton Mifflin / Random House, 1957) is identified by: Two issues appeared in 1957 and the copyright page of each records both: 'EDUCATIONAL EDITION PUBLISHED BY HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY, BOSTON / TRADE EDITION PUBLISHED SIMULTANEOUSLY IN NEW YORK BY RANDOM HOUSE, INC.' The collected first is the Random House trade issue. The Random House trade edition, first issue (matte boards, single signature, '200/200' jacket), is the collected true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Two issues appeared in 1957 and the copyright page of each records both: 'EDUCATIONAL EDITION PUBLISHED BY HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY, BOSTON / TRADE EDITION PUBLISHED SIMULTANEOUSLY IN NEW YORK BY RANDOM HOUSE, INC.' The collected first is the Random House trade issue
- First-issue points: the '200/200' price code at the top right of the FRONT dust-jacket flap (the earliest of three trade-jacket price states: '200/200,' then an unpriced/blank flap, then '195/195'); matte-finish pictorial boards (not glossy); and a single-signature (one-gathering) text block
- The back flap of a genuine first-issue jacket does NOT carry the line 'Printed in U.S.A.'
- Publisher imprint reads Houghton Mifflin / Random House
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel) |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin / Random House |
| Year | 1957 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Two issues appeared in 1957 and the copyright page of each records both: 'EDUCATIONAL EDITION PUBLISHED BY HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY, BOSTON… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Two issues appeared in 1957 and the copyright page of each records both: 'EDUCATIONAL EDITION PUBLISHED BY HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY, BOSTON / TRADE EDITION PUBLISHED SIMULTANEOUSLY IN NEW YORK BY RANDOM HOUSE, INC.' The collected first is the Random House trade issue. First-issue points: the '200/200' price code at the top right of the FRONT dust-jacket flap (the earliest of three trade-jacket price states: '200/200,' then an unpriced/blank flap, then '195/195'); matte-finish pictorial boards (not glossy); and a single-signature (one-gathering) text block. The back flap of a genuine first-issue jacket does NOT carry the line 'Printed in U.S.A.'

## Is this the true first?
The Random House trade edition, first issue (matte boards, single signature, '200/200' jacket), is the collected true first. The Houghton Mifflin issue is a SEPARATELY PUBLISHED school/educational edition — no dust jacket, rounded spine, no 'For Beginning Readers' logo — and is a distinct issue, not the trade first. Chronological priority between the Houghton Mifflin educational edition and the Random House trade edition is genuinely unresolved in the sources consulted (Geisel expected the educational edition first, and a 1957 Kirkus notice called the Random House book 'a reissue of the earlier Houghton, Mifflin educational edition,' but the point is not settled).

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Random House printings drop the '200/200' code (an unpriced flap, then '195/195') and switch to glossy boards and a three-signature text block. Book-club copies lack the jacket price and use cheaper stock. The single most-faked tell: a jacket reading 'Printed in U.S.A.' on the lower back flap is the 1985 facsimile jacket, NOT a 1957 first-issue jacket.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Cat in the Hat* by Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel) a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-cat-in-the-hat
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.