Vintage Dr. Seuss Green Eggs and Ham Hardcover, Beginner Books, c. 1990
Viridian Eclection
The Piece
A hardcover copy of Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss, in the Beginner Books format, with the pictorial boards and glossy orange ground the series is known for. The front board carries the sceptical Sam I Am character presented with his plate; the spine and rear board are the same orange, and the rear board carries the Cat in the Hat roundel and the Beginner Book Story panel that the series printed for years.
The interior is clean and complete, the colour printing bright, with the two colour red, blue and yellow palette holding its saturation. The binding is tight and square, with no cracked hinges or loose signatures.
History & Provenance
Green Eggs and Ham was written on a bet. Bennett Cerf of Random House wagered Theodor Geisel fifty dollars that he could not write a book using fifty distinct words or fewer, after The Cat in the Hat had already been built on a list of two hundred and twenty. Geisel took the bet and won it, and the result became one of the best selling children's books ever printed in English.
A word about the date on the copyright page, because it misleads more buyers of this title than almost any other. The page reads copyright 1960, which is the date of first publication and stays on every printing for the life of the copyright. It does not date the book in your hand. Two features on this copy place it a good deal later. The copyright line names Audrey S. Geisel alongside Theodor S. Geisel, and Audrey did not marry Ted until 1968, so a joint line postdates the original 1960 registration. The rear board also carries a printed retail barcode with the ISBN beneath it, and printed barcodes did not appear on American trade hardcovers until the 1980s and only became standard on children's hardcovers after that.
This is therefore a later printing offered honestly as one. A genuine 1960 first printing is a four figure book and looks quite different, with no barcode, no ISBN and a sole copyright to Geisel. What you have here is the reading copy: the same fifty words, the same drawings, in a binding robust enough to hand to a child.
Product Details
| Era | Later printing, c. 1988–2000. The 1960 date on the copyright page is the date of first publication and appears on every printing. This copy is placed later by two features: the copyright line names Audrey S. Geisel, who married Theodor Geisel in 1968, and the rear board carries a printed retail barcode with ISBN, a feature that reached American trade hardcovers in the 1980s and children's hardcovers later still |
| Author | Dr. Seuss, the pen name of Theodor Seuss Geisel |
| Publisher | Beginner Books, a division of Random House, Inc. |
| Format | Hardcover, pictorial boards, no dust jacket as issued for this series |
| ISBN | 0-394-80016-8 |
| Edition | Later printing, not a first. Offered as a reading copy |
| Condition | Very good. Boards bright with light edge and corner rubbing. Binding tight and square with no cracked hinges. Interior clean and complete with no tears, marks or inscriptions noted. Colour printing strong |
Why It Belongs in Your Home
Fifty words, and every one of them earns its place. This is the book children learn to read on, and it is the one they then read aloud to somebody else, which is the whole point of the Beginner Books series. As an object the orange board is a strong flat colour on a shelf and it sits well in a stack or spine out in a nursery. Offered as a reading copy rather than a collectible, so it can be handled, carried about and read at bedtime without anybody worrying.
Every piece is packed with professional-grade materials: multiple foam layers, double-boxing, directional and fragile handling labels. For large furniture we use custom timber crating. We photograph packing before dispatch and can provide images on request.
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