# Is "These Happy Golden Years" by Laura Ingalls Wilder a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Harper & Brothers, 1943) is identified by: True first illustrated by Helen Sewell and Mildred Boyle. US Harper & Brothers first, illustrated by Sewell and Boyle.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first illustrated by Helen Sewell and Mildred Boyle
- Copyright page states First Edition and carries the Harper printing code A-S (A = January, so January 1943); light tan cloth, spine titled in blue
- 14 black-and-white illustrations plus a color frontispiece; first-issue dust jacket carries the original price on the front flap
- A Newbery Honor book
- Publisher imprint reads Harper & Brothers
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Laura Ingalls Wilder |
| Publisher | Harper & Brothers |
| Year | 1943 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | True first illustrated by Helen Sewell and Mildred Boyle |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
True first illustrated by Helen Sewell and Mildred Boyle. Copyright page states First Edition and carries the Harper printing code A-S (A = January, so January 1943); light tan cloth, spine titled in blue; 14 black-and-white illustrations plus a color frontispiece; first-issue dust jacket carries the original price on the front flap. A Newbery Honor book.

## Is this the true first?
US Harper & Brothers first, illustrated by Sewell and Boyle. A second printing followed in May 1943, so a 1943 copyright alone does not establish the first printing; verify the A-S code.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Garth Williams art indicates the post-1953 edition; later printings carry a later Harper code rather than A-S and lack the first-issue price.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *These Happy Golden Years* by Laura Ingalls Wilder a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/these-happy-golden-years
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.