Is My Where the Wild Things Are a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First-issue dust jacket carries NO Caldecott Medal seal on the front panel (the medal was awarded in 1964, after publication) and NO mention of the award on the rear flap
• Jacket points: the codes '40-80' and '1163' on the front flap (1163 = November 1963); price present on the flap; and three paragraphs of blurb on the front flap (about the story) with three on the rear flap (about Sendak)
• The title page carries Library of Congress catalog number 63-21253
• The price alone does NOT distinguish issues — the medal's absence and the three-paragraph flap do

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. 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.
3. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. 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.
5. 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 Harper & Row, 1963, is the true first (the UK Bodley Head edition followed years later). The single most reliable point is a first-issue jacket with NO Caldecott Medal seal. After the 1964 Caldecott award the publisher recalled the edition and re-jacketed it with a medal jacket (now only two blurb paragraphs on the front flap, and the award noted on the rear), so a first-printing book can be found in either jacket — the no-medal jacket is the true first issue. Sendak-signed firsts are especially desirable.P-037026

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

A jacket bearing the gold Caldecott Medal seal is the second (post-1964) jacket issue — and because some first-printing sheets were recalled and re-jacketed this way, judge the book by its copyright/title-page points and judge the jacket by the medal. Book-club editions carry the medal, show no price on the flap, and are printed and bound more cheaply.P-037027

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Where the Wild Things Are a first edition?

A first edition of Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (Harper & Row) is identified by: First-issue dust jacket carries NO Caldecott Medal seal on the front panel (the medal was awarded in 1964, after publication) and NO mention of the award on the rear flap.

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 Harper & Row, 1963, is the true first (the UK Bodley Head edition followed years later).

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

A jacket bearing the gold Caldecott Medal seal is the second (post-1964) jacket issue — and because some first-printing sheets were recalled and re-jacketed this way, judge the book by its copyright/title-page points and judge the jacket by the medal. Book-club editions carry the medal, show no price on the flap, and are printed and bound more cheaply.

I have a first edition of Where the Wild Things Are — 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.