# Is "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1958) is identified by: First edition, first printing: Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1958. US true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first printing: Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1958
- Date 1958 on both the title page and the copyright page, with no later printing statement
- First-state dust jacket has no Newbery Medal seal and no evidence of its removal
- Pictorial cloth with illustrated endpapers
- Publisher imprint reads Houghton Mifflin Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Elizabeth George Speare |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin Company |
| Year | 1958 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | First edition, first printing: Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1958 |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First edition, first printing: Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1958. Date 1958 on both the title page and the copyright page, with no later printing statement. First-state dust jacket has no Newbery Medal seal and no evidence of its removal. Pictorial cloth with illustrated endpapers.

## Is this the true first?
US true first. Awarded the Newbery Medal in 1959.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings add a printing statement and post-award jackets carry the Newbery seal. Book-club editions are smaller, on cheaper paper, often marked Book Club Edition on the jacket flap with no price.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Witch of Blackbird Pond* by Elizabeth George Speare a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-witch-of-blackbird-pond
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.