First Edition Identification
Dr. Seuss Beginner Books B-16
1960 Green Eggs And Ham
1960 B-16 Green Eggs And Ham
Dr. Seuss. Green Eggs And Ham. New York. Beginner Books: 1960.
Pages#: 64 pages.
Book Description: Color illustrated boards wrapped in matching dust jacket. The 16th Beginner Books, one of the bestselling children’s books of all-time, where Dr. Seuss introduces the reader to ‘Sam-I-Am’. Sam-I-Am offers a plate of ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ to a reluctant diner. The two proceed to offer and refuse the plate under hilarious circumstances. A fun story told with a simple rhyming scheme. One of the ‘All-Time Bestselling Children’s Books’ according to Publisher’s Weekly
Pagination: Front fixed and free endpapers illustrated in color; [i] title and copyright; [ii] blank; 3-62 story; [63-64] blank; back free and fixed endpaper illustrated in color.
Collectibility Context
The first edition book in its original first edition DJ is a Premier Collectible: Early book in ground breaking Beginner Books series, which changed the way children learned to read in America. Embraced by the public for 64 years with millions of copies sold. The 4th bestselling children’s hardback of all-time
The Collectibility of a first edition American picturebook is comprised of specific factors, as explained in detail at Factors Affecting Collectibility.
| Scarcity | Collect ibility | Illust. | 1st Early Late | Author | Awards | Pop Culture | Copies Sold | Fran chise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 10 |
Scarcity Context
The first edition book in its original first edition DJ is Very Scarce to Scarce: There were 4 first editions found in the March 2024 survey, with an average price of $4,488, ranging from $7,500 to $2,750.
First Edition Book & Dust Jacket Descriptions
Book Front: Bound in orange glossy paper covered boards with color illustration. “Green / Eggs / and / Ham / by Dr. Seuss”
Note: No Beginner Book logo and no ’50 WORD VOCABULARY’.
Note: Click on any of the book’s images to see at larger scale.
Book Back: Bound in orange paper covered boards. Blank with no illustration or text.
Book Spine: “[BB logo] BEGINNER BOOKS [black horizontal text] Green Eggs And Ham Dr. Seuss B-16 [black horizontal text]”
Title Page: “Green Eggs / and / Ham / [illustration] / By Dr. Seuss / BEGINNER BOOKS, INC. / DISTRIBUTED BY RANDOM HOUSE / [two-line copyright statement]”
Copyright: “(c) Copyright 1960 by Dr. Seuss. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in New York by Beginner Books, Inc., and simul- / taneously in Toronto, Canada, by Random House of Canada, Limited. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 60-13493. Manufactured in the United States of America.”
DJ Front: Color illustration matching Book Front, with Beginner Books logo and sticker added. “Green / Eggs / [Beginner Books logo top right] / 50 / WORD / VOCABULARY [sticker] / and / Ham / by Dr. Seuss”
DJ Back: Beginner Books DJ Back ‘F’: 1960 18 Titles
“[Cat In The Hat illustration top left] / I can read them / all by myself! / ELEMENTARY EDUCATORS from all over the country … [… paragraph] / REMEDIAL READING SPECIALISTS have acclaimed… [… paragraph] / Books for Beginners (Average Reading Vocabulary – 210 words) / [list of 15 BB titles starting with THE CAT IN THE HAT to THE KINGS WISH & OTHER STORIES] / for BEGINNING Beginners / 50 word vocabulary 100 word vocabulary 100 word vocabulary / GREEN EGGS AND HAM PUT ME IN THE ZOO ARE YOU MY MOTHER? / DR. SEUSS ROBERT LOPSHIRE P. D. EASTMAN / Beginner Books, Inc. / DISTRIBUTED BY RANDOM HOUSE, 457 MADISON AVE. NEW YORK 22, N.Y.”
DJ Spine: “[BB logo] BEGINNER BOOKS [black horizontal text] Green Eggs And Ham Dr. Seuss B-16 [black horizontal text]”
DJ Price: 195/195
DJ Flap Front: “195/195 [top right] / [Illustration] / Green Eggs And Ham / by Dr. Seuss / The most popular author-illustrator of … [… paragraph] / Using a vocabulary of ONLY 50 … […paragraph] / The story is as goofy as any Dr. … [… paragraph] / This book will stimulate the URGE… [… paragraph] / Beginner books proudly presents… [… paragraph] / This new series includes / PUT ME IN THE ZOO / by ROBERT LOPSHIRE / (100-word vocabulary) / ARE YOU MY MOTHER? / by P. D. EASTMAN (100-word vocabulary
DJ Flap Back: “Unsolicited / Testimonial / to / Dr. Seuss / “I hope you are / feeling well and / will write lots / and lots of books / so that pretty / soon every book / in the whole / library will / be by you.” / Signed / Brud F. Perkins / (age 8)”
First Edition Identification
First edition book states “Distributed by Random House” on the title/copyright page and has ‘B-16’ on the spine.
First edition dust jacket has a sticker on the front ’50 WORD VOCABULARY’ below the Beginner Book logo. Back dust jacket is 1960 DJ ‘F’ with 18 titles listed and “Distributed by Random House’ with ‘B-16’ on the DJ spine. See Beginner Books Dust Jacket Backs from Chapter 52 of the First Edition Identification Guide: Beginner Books.
Second Printings and Later
Second printing book is identical to first printing.
Second printing dust jacket has no ’50 WORD VOCABULARY’ sticker or printed below the Beginner Book logo, and back is 1960 DJ ‘F’ with 18 titles listed and “Distributed by Random House’. See Beginner Books Dust Jacket Backs from Chapter 52 of the First Edition Identification Guide: Beginner Books.
Third printing book is identical to first printing.
Third printing dust jacket has ’50 WORD VOCABULARY’ printed below the Beginner Book logo , and back is 1960 DJ ‘F’ with 18 titles listed and “Distributed by Random House’.
Fourth printing book is identical to first printing.
Fourth printing dust jacket has ’50 WORD VOCABULARY’ printed below the Beginner Book logo , and back is 1960 ‘F’ version ‘c’ with “DIVISION OF RANDOM HOUSE”. See Beginner Books Dust Jacket Backs from Chapter 52 of the First Edition Identification Guide: Beginner Books.
Fifth printing book states “A Division of Random House, Inc” on copyright/title page.
BB-16 Green Eggs and Ham Fifth Printing
Fifth printing dust jacket is 1960 ‘F’ version ‘c’ with “DIVISION OF RANDOM HOUSE”.
See First Fifty Beginner Books for first edition identification of the first 50 Beginner Books.
See Beginner Books Dust Jacket Backs to see the chronological sequence of the Beginner Books dust jackets.
All of this information is sourced from the First Edition Identification Guide: Beginner Books (2024, Flying Moose Books), by Stan Zielinski.