\n ![\"First](\"\/ssl\/Images\/carle\/VeryHungryCaterpillarBookFront.jpg\")
\n A first edition of Eric Carle\u2019s 1969 The Very Hungry Caterpillar<\/b><\/i> is a very difficult book to find. Prior to 2013, in twenty years of collecting children\u2019s picturebooks, I had never seen a first edition copy for sale. Sadly, I don’t have one in my book collection.<\/p>\n
Within the collectible bookselling market this scarcity had propagated some myths about the first edition identification points for The Very Hungry Caterpillar<\/b><\/i>. Without \u2018proof\u2019, many booksellers thought the first edition could be identified by the Cleveland imprint of World Publishing Company. Times-Mirror bought World in the 1960\u2019s, and transitioned the publishing office from Cleveland to New York, so Carle\u2019s classic was thought to have been published prior to the New York transition. <\/p>\n
World Publishing became World Collins in 1974 upon its purchase by Collins Publishing, so many thought that the Cleveland imprint, with World Publishing \u2013 not World Collins \u2013 was sufficient to identify a first edition The Very Hungry Caterpillar<\/b><\/i>. Several of these imposters are marketed as first editions. We now know better.<\/p>\n
A true first edition The Very Hungry Caterpillar<\/b><\/i> came up for sale on eBay<\/a> in 2013. The book is without DJ, however sufficient photographs are posted in the listing to positively identify it as a first edition. The book, without DJ, is being offered for $15,000! This seems a bit optimistic, but one can afford to reach when one has the only copy of a rare and highly desirable first edition book. <\/p>\n [Disclaimer: The images posted here are courtesy of eBay seller kirthgersen<\/a>. I have no affiliation with \u201ckirthgersen\u201d and would not profit in any way from the sale of this or any of their books.]<\/p>\n A first edition copy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar<\/b><\/i> is a highly desirable collectible children\u2019s book. We\u2019ve identified six factors which affect the collectibility and value of a contemporary children\u2019s picturebook<\/a>:<\/p>\n The Very Hungry Caterpillar<\/b><\/i> hits it out of the park along all six factors. Great story and illustrations, the book has been translated into more than 50 languages and sold over 33 million copies. <\/p>\n While not his first book, the book launched Eric Carle\u2019s career. Carle is successful enough to have chartered The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art<\/a>, the only full scale museum of its kind, located in Amherst, Massachusetts. <\/p>\n The Very Hungry Caterpillar<\/b><\/i> has won a half dozen notable awards:<\/p>\n Because of these credentials and its worldwide success in the market, in the 2012 list of the Top 100 Collectible Children\u2019s Books<\/a>, I selected The Very Hungry Caterpillar<\/b><\/i> one of the Marquis 25<\/a> \u2013 one of the top twenty-five collectible children\u2019s picturebooks of all time.<\/p>\n A first edition The Very Hungry Caterpillar<\/b><\/i> is indeed a highly collectible book.<\/p>\n The scarcity of a collectible book has a major impact on its value, however alone does not drive value. The value results from the balance of supply and demand, where scarcity represents the supply of the first edition book and collectibility represents the demand. The market value of a book is determined by the relationship between scarcity and collectibility.<\/p>\n When valuing the 23,000 books for the Children\u2019s Picturebook Price Guide<\/em><\/strong>, a 10-to-1 scale was used in the database to rank a book\u2019s scarcity, with 10 being the most scarce, and 1 being the most common (click here for a definition of each ranking<\/a>).<\/p>\n I would rate the scarcity of The Very Hungry Caterpillar<\/b><\/i> a 10.<\/p>\n In support of this scarcity rating I would put forth that I\u2019ve seen only one copy for sale in over twenty years of collecting first edition children\u2019s books. There are potentially two others which could be first editions, however they don’t definitively list the first edition identification points; one of the books proclaims the Cleveland imprint as proof. In the past fifteen years, I\u2019ve executed over thirty book searches weekly on the internet trying to find collectible first edition picturebooks, including The Very Hungry Caterpillar<\/b><\/i>. For the latter, this has been a pursuit to no end. Until late last year.<\/p>\n With only one copy on the market it is difficult to value a book. There are really no good comparables (aka \u2018comps\u2019 within the bookselling industry) \u2013 Carle has many other successful books, several of which are scarce, however nothing approaches the collectibility of The Very Hungry Caterpillar<\/b><\/i>. Few books do.<\/p>\n Published a half decade earlier, the first edition Where The Wild Things Are<\/b><\/i> is comparable in collectibility to The Very Hungry Caterpillar<\/b><\/i>. There are ten first edition Where The Wild Things Are<\/b><\/i> in VG\/VG or better condition on the market offered at $8,500-to-$20,000. Market prices ebb and flow with the current availability a book; today I value the first edition Where The Wild Things Are<\/b><\/i> in the $12,000-to-$15,000 range.<\/p>\n With this in mind, and in consideration of its higher scarcity, I value a first edition The Very Hungry Caterpillar<\/b><\/i> in Very Good condition with a Very Good dust jacket, to be in the same range, about $12,000-to-$15,000. It could be higher. The first edition Where The Wild Things Are<\/b><\/i> has auction results and \u2018collectibility history\u2019 within the market which support its market valuation, while the The Very Hungry Caterpillar<\/b><\/i> does not. Yet. <\/p>\n The first edition The Very Hungry Caterpillar<\/b><\/i> first edition a has full number line on the copyright page, \u201c1 2 3 4 5 73 72 71 70 69\u201d. See photograph and ensuing commentary, below.<\/p>\n The book being offered on eBay does not have a dust jacket<\/a>, so I can\u2019t post photos of the DJ flaps. I have a very early library edition of The Very Hungry Caterpillar<\/b><\/i>, published prior to the Collins acquisition of World (so pre-1974), but do not want to post the DJ flaps for fear of erroneous identification. There have been enough myths about the first edition identification points for The Very Hungry Caterpillar<\/b><\/i> so I don\u2019t want to propagate additional misinformation.<\/p>\n [Disclaimer: The images posted here are courtesy of eBay seller kirthgersen<\/a>. I have no affiliation with \u201ckirthgersen\u201d and would not profit in any way from the sale of this or any of their books.] <\/p>\n Following this convention, the second printing of The Very Hungry Caterpillar<\/b><\/i> would drop the \u201c1\u201d from the front of the number line and be \u201c2 3 4 5 73 72 71 70 69\u201d if it were re-printed in 1969, or \u201c2 3 4 5 73 72 71 70\u201d if it were printed in 1970. <\/p>\n Similarly, the third printing would drop the \u201c1 2\u201d from the front of the number line, and be \u201c3 4 5 73 72 71 70 69\u201d were it re-printed in 1969, and \u201c3 4 5 73 72 71 70\u201d if in 1970.<\/p>\n However no second printings or third printings have ever surfaced which follow this number line convention. I think this is what has caused confusion within the market. Had second or third or any printings been found which follow this number line convention, then it would have been easy to deduce the first edition identification points for The Very Hungry Caterpillar<\/b><\/i>.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\nCollectibility<\/h3>\n
\n
\n
\n <\/div>\nScarcity<\/h3>\n
\n <\/div>\nMarket Value<\/h3>\n
\n <\/div>\nKey First Edition Identification Points<\/h3>\n
\n <\/div>\nFirst Edition Book<\/h3>\n
\n Front Cover:<\/a><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n
\n ![\"First](\"\/ssl\/Images\/carle\/VeryHungryCaterpillarCopyright.jpg\")
Copyright Page:<\/a> A full number line, \u201c1 2 3 4 5 73 72 71 70 69\u201d. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n
![\"First](\"\/ssl\/Images\/carle\/VeryHungryCaterpillarTitle.jpg\")
Title Page:<\/a> The World Publishing Company \/ New York and Cleveland. <\/p>\n![\"First](\"\/ssl\/Images\/carle\/VeryHungryCaterpillarBookBack.jpg\")
Book Back:<\/a> <\/p>\n