- For Little Golden Books from 1947 to 1970, the printing is shown by a single letter in the lower right corner of the last page, near the spine: "A" is the first printing, "B" the second, and so on.
- From 1971 to 1991 a row of letters appears on one of the first pages; the letter at the far left gives the printing, so a first printing starts with "A".
- From 1991 the printing year appears in Roman numerals beside the copyright date; an "A" with the numerals marks a first edition and an "R" a revised edition.
- The copyright page keeps the original publication year on reprints, so the date alone cannot identify a first printing.
- The original 1942 Little Golden Books price was 25 cents.
Publisher · founded 1958
Golden Press
Golden Press was the company formed in 1958 by Western Publishing and Pocket Books to publish Little Golden Books and other Golden titles.
- Editions tracked
- 59
- First editions
- 56
- Books
- 59
- Years
- 1952 to 2013
Golden Press was founded in 1958. We track 59 editions it published between 1952 and 2013, 56 of them first editions across 59 books. How Golden Press marked its first editions is set out below, with a checker for the year on your title page.
About Golden Press
Golden Press was the American publishing company and imprint set up at the end of 1958 by Western Publishing and Pocket Books after they jointly bought the Golden Books properties from Simon & Schuster.
The Golden Books line dates from 1942, when Western Publishing of Racine, Wisconsin, launched Little Golden Books with Simon & Schuster: twelve titles priced at 25 cents each, printed by Western. After 1958 the series and other Golden titles appeared under the Golden Press name, including larger picture books such as Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever (1963), which was revised by 1980 to remove stereotyped roles for women and to update wording such as "policeman".
In 1996 the company renamed itself Golden Books Family Entertainment. Following its bankruptcy, Random House and Classic Media bought the business at auction in August 2001, and Little Golden Books is now published by Penguin Random House.
Holding a copy? The first edition checker shows Golden Press's practice for the year on your title page.
Identification
How to identify Golden Press first editions
Authors
Series
Books
Published by Golden Press
Frequently asked questions
How do I identify a Golden Press first edition?
- For Little Golden Books from 1947 to 1970, the printing is shown by a single letter in the lower right corner of the last page, near the spine: "A" is the first printing, "B" the second, and so on. - From 1971 to 1991 a row of letters appears on one of the first pages; the letter at the far left gives the printing, so a first printing starts with "A". - From 1991 the printing year appears in Rom
How many Golden Press books does MyVolumes track?
We track 59 editions published by Golden Press, 56 of them first editions, across 59 books.
Where these facts come from
- Golden Books, Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
- Little Golden Books, Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
- Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever, Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
- Little Golden Books were treasures for young readers (Sandy Erdman), Post Bulletin, 2021 (postbulletin.com)
- How To Tell Editions, thesantis.com (thesantis.com)
Every fact on this page was checked against the sources listed. Checked 17 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.