# Is "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (Contact, Amsterdam, 1947) is identified by: Dutch true first: Het Achterhuis, Uitgeverij Contact, Amsterdam, published 25 June 1947 in an edition of 3,036 copies. The Dutch Het Achterhuis (Contact, Amsterdam, 1947) is the true first of the work.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Dutch true first: Het Achterhuis, Uitgeverij Contact, Amsterdam, published 25 June 1947 in an edition of 3,036 copies
- The decisive point is the series statement "Proloog-reeks" on the half-title, present only in the first edition and dropped from the second onward
- The first edition carries NO printing statement anywhere; the second through fifth editions print it on p
- IV and the sixth on the title page, so any printing statement rules the copy out
- Collation [2], X, 253 pp., with a portrait of Anne Frank, two photographs of the hiding place, a plan of the Annex and two facsimiles of the handwritten diary; grey card covers with an orange rectangular panel carrying author, title and publisher
- Jacket point: Anne Frank's name printed in yellow (blue on the second edition, orange on the third), and the jacket subtitle reads "Dagboekbrieven van 14 Juni 1942" where the title page reads "12 juni 1942"
- Publisher imprint reads Contact, Amsterdam

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Anne Frank |
| Publisher | Contact, Amsterdam |
| Year | 1947 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Dutch true first: Het Achterhuis, Uitgeverij Contact, Amsterdam, published 25 June 1947 in an edition of 3,036 copies |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Dutch true first: Het Achterhuis, Uitgeverij Contact, Amsterdam, published 25 June 1947 in an edition of 3,036 copies. The decisive point is the series statement "Proloog-reeks" on the half-title, present only in the first edition and dropped from the second onward. The first edition carries NO printing statement anywhere; the second through fifth editions print it on p. IV and the sixth on the title page, so any printing statement rules the copy out. Collation [2], X, 253 pp., with a portrait of Anne Frank, two photographs of the hiding place, a plan of the Annex and two facsimiles of the handwritten diary; grey card covers with an orange rectangular panel carrying author, title and publisher. Jacket point: Anne Frank's name printed in yellow (blue on the second edition, orange on the third), and the jacket subtitle reads "Dagboekbrieven van 14 Juni 1942" where the title page reads "12 juni 1942". The yellow belly band is usually lacking, and spines are commonly damaged because waste sheets of the German book Die Vergeltung were used in the binding. First American edition: Doubleday, Garden City, 12 June 1952 — "First Edition" stated on the copyright page, 285 pp., black cloth lettered in silver on the spine, top edge stained red, in a priced jacket with the price present at the front flap. First English (UK) edition: Vallentine Mitchell (Constellation Books), London, 30 April 1952 — green cloth, gilt spine lettering, foreword by Storm Jameson.

## Is this the true first?
The Dutch Het Achterhuis (Contact, Amsterdam, 1947) is the true first of the work. The census note is corrected on English precedence: the Vallentine Mitchell London edition appeared 30 April 1952 and precedes the Doubleday New York edition of 12 June 1952 — they were not simultaneous. Both English editions use the same B. M. Mooyaart-Doubleday translation and both are collected: London holds priority as the first edition in English (foreword by Storm Jameson), while the Doubleday first printing is the more sought English issue on account of the Eleanor Roosevelt introduction. Do not treat the Roosevelt introduction as a mark of the first English edition — it is the American issue point only.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The reliable tell on the American side is the copyright-page "First Edition" statement: its absence means the copy is not the first Doubleday printing. Doubleday's club and later issues characteristically drop that statement and, per the publisher's general practice of the period, carry a blind-stamped device on the rear board with an unpriced jacket. On the Dutch side, any "druk" (printing) statement, or a jacket with the name in blue or orange rather than yellow, indicates a later Contact edition. No book-club issue of the 1947 Contact edition is documented.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Diary of a Young Girl* by Anne Frank a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-diary-of-a-young-girl
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.