# Is "The Little House" by Virginia Lee Burton a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1942) is identified by: Houghton Mifflin Company imprint; copyright 1942. US true first is the 1942 Houghton Mifflin issue identified by '1942' on the title page.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Houghton Mifflin Company imprint; copyright 1942
- The decisive first-printing point is the presence of '1942' on the TITLE page (the date flanks the central flower); the second printing (May 1943) is otherwise identical but removes the '1942' from the title page
- The first-issue dust jacket front flap carries the printed price (verify presence of the original price, not the figure for valuation)
- Oblong quarto in blue cloth stamped in white, with pictorial endpapers
- Publisher imprint reads Houghton Mifflin Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Virginia Lee Burton |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin Company |
| Year | 1942 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | Houghton Mifflin Company imprint; copyright 1942 |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Houghton Mifflin Company imprint; copyright 1942. The decisive first-printing point is the presence of '1942' on the TITLE page (the date flanks the central flower); the second printing (May 1943) is otherwise identical but removes the '1942' from the title page. The first-issue dust jacket front flap carries the printed price (verify presence of the original price, not the figure for valuation). Oblong quarto in blue cloth stamped in white, with pictorial endpapers.

## Is this the true first?
US true first is the 1942 Houghton Mifflin issue identified by '1942' on the title page.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings remove the title-page date; reprints add the Caldecott seal to the jacket. Book-club issues are smaller in format and often lack the original priced flap.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Little House* by Virginia Lee Burton a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-little-house
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.