Description
First edition, first printing of My First Horse by Newbery Medal recipient Will James, in the first state dust jacket.
Oblong octavo, [48pp]. Teal blue cloth, title in black on front cover. With “1940” at the bottom of the title page and “Scribner’s A” on copyright page. Solid text block, light rubbing to corners. Previous ownership bookplate affixed to front endpaper. A near fine example. Complete with twenty full-page color illustrations by Will James, plus a color title page.
In the publisher’s first state dust jacket, retail price on front flap, chipped corners, with wear to top and bottom edges. Sunned spine, small loss to tail, and two losses to rear panel. This is the first state dust jacket, with the front flap describing the book and the rear flap promoting “Young Cowboy” and “Cowboy in the Making.”
(Frazier 134-136)
A good example of an exceptionally scarce dust jacket.
From Frazier: “My First Horse first edition in dj is just about the most rare and dear Will James book, even though also one of the least significant of the 24 titles. In all my years I’ve only had three of them in djs and only know of three others in the hands of collectors.”
Will James (1892-1942) was a Canadian-American author and artist with a special interest in the American West. One of his popular cowboy stories, Smoky the Cowhorse, received the 1927 Newbery Medal.
