1939 FIRST EDITION, RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER, BY MONTGOMERY WARD R. L.

Description: 1939 FIRST EDITION, FIRST STATE OF RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER, MONTGOMERY WARD R. L. WONDERFUL ORIGINAL PURPLE HAND STAMP OF MONTGOMERY WARD & CO. For your references, we took a picture of every single page so that you can fully compare listings indicating a first edition when in fact it is not, and enjoy the wonderful art work. As of this listing, no other listing on the internet provides every single page to be viewed. Please use the additional pictures as reference to condition. "This first issue is a soft cover, similar to comic book in form, bound in glossy red paper wrappers. The book measures 10-1/4 x 7-1/2 inches, and has 32 pages plus wrappers. The 1939 first state edition of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer can be identified by the tri-motored airplane on page 9 and elves loading Santa's sleigh on page 6. The 1946 edition has a four-motored plane as shown in the last picture". "Rudolph first appeared in this 1939 booklet written by Robert L. May and published by Montgomery Ward, a department store which operated between 1872 and 2001. May's wife, Evelyn, had contracted cancer in 1937 and was quite ill as he started on the book in early 1939. She died in July 1939. His boss offered to take him off the book assignment in light of his wife's death. May refused and completed the book in August 1939. Shoppers loved it and 2.4 million copies were distributed. War time restrictions on paper use prevented a re-issue until 1946. In that year, another 3.6 million copies were distributed to Montgomery Ward shoppers. Montgomery Ward held the rights to the story until early 1947 when Sewell Avery, the company's president, gave the copyright to the book to May, free and clear.

Price: 575 USD

Location: Woodside, New York

End Time: 2024-10-04T22:13:22.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD