# Is "The Velveteen Rabbit" by Margery Williams (illustrated by William Nicholson) a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams (illustrated by William Nicholson) (George H. Doran, 1922) is identified by: First edition, 1922, with William Nicholson's seven color chromolithograph plates (four single-page, three double-page). Issued in 1922 by George H.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, 1922, with William Nicholson's seven color chromolithograph plates (four single-page, three double-page)
- Both issues were physically printed in Great Britain (the Whitefriars Press colophon appears on the verso of the final text leaf)
- The US issue adds 'George H. Doran Company, New York' to the title page; the UK issue lists only Heinemann
- Yellow-tan pictorial boards depicting the rabbit
- Publisher imprint reads George H. Doran
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Margery Williams (illustrated by William Nicholson) |
| Publisher | George H. Doran |
| Year | 1922 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | First edition, 1922, with William Nicholson's seven color chromolithograph plates (four single-page, three double-page) |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First edition, 1922, with William Nicholson's seven color chromolithograph plates (four single-page, three double-page). Both issues were physically printed in Great Britain (the Whitefriars Press colophon appears on the verso of the final text leaf). The US issue adds 'George H. Doran Company, New York' to the title page; the UK issue lists only Heinemann. Yellow-tan pictorial boards depicting the rabbit.

## Is this the true first?
Issued in 1922 by George H. Doran (US) and William Heinemann (UK) from the same English-printed sheets; both are considered first editions, the US issue distinguished by the addition of George H. Doran to the title page. The lithographic plates distinguish the first printing from later halftone reprints. The author, who later published as Margery Williams Bianco, appears here as Margery Williams.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings and editions reproduce the Nicholson illustrations by non-lithographic means, reset the text, or carry modern (ISBN-era) imprints; book-club and modern reprints are abundant. The lustrous chromolithograph plates with the Whitefriars Press colophon mark an early printing.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Velveteen Rabbit* by Margery Williams (illustrated by William Nicholson) a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-velveteen-rabbit
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.