Is My The Poky Little Puppy a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Little Golden Book No
• 8, one of the original twelve titles Simon and Schuster issued simultaneously in 1942 (first published September 1942)
• Original format: roughly 8 x 6.75 in., 42 pages, stapled, blue spine strip over color pictorial boards, illustrated by Gustaf Tenggren, issued in a color pictorial dust jacket with a gold decorated strip along the spine panel — priced jacket, price present at the flap; jackets are scarce because children destroyed them
• Identification is by printing statement, never by date: Little Golden Books printed through 1947 state the printing in the front matter (first or second page / copyright page), in the form 'First printing, September 1942'; reprints list the earlier printings and add lines such as 'First printing, this edition, July 1943,' which is why dealers catalogue copies as 'First Edition
• Third Printing' or 'Twelfth Printing.' The letter code collectors rely on for later Little Golden Books (A = first, B = second, on the last page or inside back cover near the spine's lower right) was introduced only after 1947 and does NOT apply to the original twelve
• The number of titles advertised on the back cover corroborates the dating — the earliest issue lists the original twelve; later printings list twenty or more

How Simon and Schuster marked a first edition

• CROSS-CHECK across all number-line eras: A 1-bearing number line is frequently paired with a spelled-out first-issue statement (which may read 'First Printing' OR 'First Edition' — both occur at S&S). When a positive sta…

Full Simon and Schuster first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
4. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
6. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

US-only true first — Simon and Schuster, New York, 1942. No UK or original-language edition precedes it. Simon and Schuster is the imprint on the original twelve; Western Printing & Lithographing (Racine, Wisconsin) was the printer in 1942, not the publisher of record, so title pages reading Golden Press or Western Publishing Company are later issues however early they appear. The blue spine brackets the window: it was used 1942-1947 only.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The governing trap is that the 1942 copyright date is carried forward on every reprint for eighty-plus years, so the date proves nothing — Biblio's Little Golden Books guide makes this its headline warning. The 1947 redesign is the clearest later-issue tell: the book was reduced to the standard 8 x 6.5 in. trim with a shorter collation (28 pages, later 24), the dust jacket was dropped, and the blue spine gave way to an applied gold-foil spine over hard paper covers. Any gold-foil-spine copy, any jacketless copy in the smaller trim, and any 24-page collation is a later issue, not the 1942 first.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Poky Little Puppy a first edition?

A first edition of The Poky Little Puppy by Janette Sebring Lowrey (illus. Gustaf Tenggren) (Simon and Schuster) is identified by: Little Golden Book No.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. US-only true first — Simon and Schuster, New York, 1942.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

The governing trap is that the 1942 copyright date is carried forward on every reprint for eighty-plus years, so the date proves nothing — Biblio's Little Golden Books guide makes this its headline warning. The 1947 redesign is the clearest later-issue tell: the book was reduced to the standard 8 x 6.5 in. trim with a shorter collation (28 pages, later 24), the dust jacket was dropped, and the blue spine gave way to an applied gold-foil spine over hard paper covers. Any gold-foil-spine copy, any

I have a first edition of The Poky Little Puppy — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.