# Is "Tom's Midnight Garden" by Philippa Pearce a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce (Oxford University Press, 1958) is identified by: Oxford University Press's method for this period is negative and must be applied as such: OUP printed no edition statement on first editions but did note subsequent impressions, so a first should show 'First published 1958' on the copyright page and nothing further — any 'reprinted', 'second impression', or later-date line rules the copy out. UK true first confirmed: Oxford University Press, London, 1958 — the census claim stands.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Oxford University Press's method for this period is negative and must be applied as such: OUP printed no edition statement on first editions but did note subsequent impressions, so a first should show 'First published 1958' on the copyright page and nothing further — any 'reprinted', 'second impression', or later-date line rules the copy out
- There is no number line (OUP only adopted number rows in the late 1980s)
- Collation and binding: 229 pp., illustrated by Susan Einzig with 27 line drawings; publisher's dark green cloth boards (some dealers describe the shade as teal) lettered in silver on the spine
- Einzig's pictorial dust wrapper
- ABA/ILAB dealers distinguish a first-issue wrapper by the original pre-decimal price present at the inside front flap, unclipped; a price-clipped wrapper forfeits that check and the copy must rest on the copyright-page point alone
- Publisher imprint reads Oxford University Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Philippa Pearce |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
| Year | 1958 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | Oxford University Press's method for this period is negative and must be applied as such: OUP printed no edition statement on first… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Oxford University Press's method for this period is negative and must be applied as such: OUP printed no edition statement on first editions but did note subsequent impressions, so a first should show 'First published 1958' on the copyright page and nothing further — any 'reprinted', 'second impression', or later-date line rules the copy out. There is no number line (OUP only adopted number rows in the late 1980s). Collation and binding: 229 pp., illustrated by Susan Einzig with 27 line drawings; publisher's dark green cloth boards (some dealers describe the shade as teal) lettered in silver on the spine; Einzig's pictorial dust wrapper. ABA/ILAB dealers distinguish a first-issue wrapper by the original pre-decimal price present at the inside front flap, unclipped; a price-clipped wrapper forfeits that check and the copy must rest on the copyright-page point alone.

## Is this the true first?
UK true first confirmed: Oxford University Press, London, 1958 — the census claim stands. It won the 1958 Carnegie Medal. The first American edition followed from J. B. Lippincott, Philadelphia, 1959 (229 pp.), using the same Susan Einzig illustrations; it is collected as the first US edition but London 1958 has clear precedence. English is the original language; there is no translation-precedence question.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No UK book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted. The tells that actually matter are OUP's own reprint lines added beneath 'First published 1958' on the copyright page, and the later Puffin and Oxford paperback reprints, which carry ISBNs (10-digit ISBNs from 1970 onward) and are first-thus at best. Any copy dated 1958 on the title page but showing an impression statement on the verso is a later printing, not a first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Tom's Midnight Garden* by Philippa Pearce a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/toms-midnight-garden
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.