# Is "The Matchlock Gun" by Walter D. Edmonds a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Matchlock Gun by Walter D. Edmonds (Dodd, Mead & Company, 1941) is identified by: First edition 1941, Dodd, Mead (New York). US true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition 1941, Dodd, Mead (New York)
- First printing states 'First Edition' on the title page and corresponds to the September 1941 printing (the October 1941 printing is the second)
- Illustrations by Paul Lantz; pictorial endpapers, double-page color spreads; beige buckram cloth stamped in brown
- Publisher imprint reads Dodd, Mead & Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Walter D. Edmonds |
| Publisher | Dodd, Mead & Company |
| Year | 1941 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | First edition 1941, Dodd, Mead (New York) |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition 1941, Dodd, Mead (New York). First printing states 'First Edition' on the title page and corresponds to the September 1941 printing (the October 1941 printing is the second). Illustrations by Paul Lantz; pictorial endpapers, double-page color spreads; beige buckram cloth stamped in brown.

## Is this the true first?
US true first. Won the Newbery Medal in 1942.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Earliest jackets carry the original price and show no Newbery Medal; jackets with the medal added postdate the 1942 award. Later printings add printing statements.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Matchlock Gun* by Walter D. Edmonds a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-matchlock-gun
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.