Questions occasionally arise about the various editions of "Hitty, Her First Hundred Years" by Rachel Field, illustrated by Dorothy Lathrop. ~~~ Which have color plates? Which have black & white illustrations only? Some have calico cloth covers, some have solid cloth covers..... ;o)
I can share what I know based primarily on what I have recorded from my own collection of Hitty books along with two editions owned by fellow collectors. Thank you to Josie & Celia for sharing information about your copies.

The 3 color plates began with the first edition, published in October 1929; and probably ended with the 14th printing in September 1936. I've not personally seen or heard of any printing beyond September 1936 that contains any color plate except for the frontispiece which is a color plate. That is the illustration that Dorothy Lathrop created of Hitty as she sat for her daguerreotype. So it appears that beginning with the 15th printing in May 1937 only the color frontispiece was printed and the other two plates were eliminated from that printing and future printings.

If your desire is to purchase a copy of Hitty, Her First Hundred Years with all 3 color plates present, it is important for you to ask a few questions before you buy. One important thing to note when considering a purchase online or from someone without seeing the copy in person yourself, is to ask the seller if there are any color plates and if so how many. The reason for asking this question is that while someone may have a copy that was published between October 1929 and September 1936 it could be a copy that either one or more plates might have been removed from or could be a copy within those dates that never had the 3 color plates to begin with. The reason for this is that from the first edition on, there were evidently some copies that were printed that would be sold in book stores that would have the calico cloth covers while less expensive versions were printed using either a plain coral or beige cloth cover. Most of those copies were supposedly sold to schools and libraries. While most copies, regardless of type of cloth cover, from 1929 thru 1936 will have started out with 3 color plates, not all did, so it's always best to confirm how many color plates are present if that is important in your decision to purchase or not.

Starting with the first edition forward..... This edition measures 7 1/8" x 8 5/8" and has a paper title plate affixed to the topmost corner of the front cover. Said paper title plate measures 2 3/4" x 3 3/8". There are 23 illustrations, 3 of which are color plates and the remaining 20 that are black & white pen and ink drawings. To my knowledge the 3 color plates were printed in all editions that had the calico cloth cover beginning with the first edition in October 1929 as well as in most if not all library editions thru either the 15th printing.

The three color illustrations include:
1. Frontispiece
2. Facing page 74 ~ "One monkey even brought me a present"
3. Facing page 188 ~ "The surrounding roots made a kind of deep chair for me"

Now a bit about the color and types of cloth covers that were used for the various editions. I personally, have not seen or heard of any copy with the calico cover beyond the printing date of September 1936, 14th printing.

The first copies I have with either the red/coral or cream cloth covers begin with the 15th printing in May 1937. More than one change occurred with this printing. The size was reduced from the size stated above, down to 6 1/4" x 8 3/4". There is no longer a paper title plate affixed to the front cover on any copies I have seen or heard of. The book is now identified with "Hitty" in black print on the front cover with Rachel Field's name below it. The title, author's name and publisher (Macmillan) is printed in black on the spine. The number of illustrations is reduced from 23 to 21 having eliminated the second and third color illustrations listed above. The only color plate is the frontispiece. The last copy I have bearing the color frontis was the 31st printing in 1964. The first copy I have without the color frontis is the 32nd printing in 1965.

We also have to allow for the possibility that some variations could have occurred with books that were printed solely for use in libraries or schools which were not sold in book stores. I also have some library editions that had various other covers some plain in color (i.e.: plain cloth, not a decorative calico pattern) and some in a variation of colors that were bound in cloth that was more similar to oil cloth, the pattern being similar to the pattern of the early calico covered books but are the reduced size, have 21 illustrations instead of 23 etc. - All of my library editions have the color frontis but no other color illustrations.

As with many things there are exceptions and with printings of Hitty I'm not sure that we will ever know all of them. I have one copy that is different from most others I've seen, that is a 2nd printing from December 1929 which is the same size as the calico cloth covered book and rather than the paper title plate being affixed to the cover it instead has a painted on title plate, if that is the correct term since it is painted on, that is cream in color, reads Hitty, under the word Hitty, Rachel Field and under Rachel's name is the the silhouette of Hitty that appears on the last page of every book I have seen in print.

To recap.... my only advice or suggestion to any collector wanting to acquire a copy of Hitty with all three color illustrations would be the some of the following things.... First of all, if the book being advertised for sale appears to have the calico cover. be sure it is the cover you are looking at and not the dust jacket. All dust jackets I have seen have had the calico print so don't be confused if you see what appears to be the calico cover in a photo in an online auction or any other web site, be sure to confirm what you are looking at... either a cloth calico cover, or a calico paper dust jacket.

Sometimes you may read that the description states that the book is a first edition but if you look closely at the photo you can see that the colors are not right and that the book is the smaller size stated above. Believe it or not, that almost 3/4" difference in width between the earlier books and the later books will more often than not be the first clue that it is a more recent printing and will not have the color plates.

Once you have established that what you are looking at is an early printing, before you bid or buy online, I would write to the seller and ask the following: How many color illustrations are present in this copy? Does the book have any smell of mildew or foxing? Very light foxing (I'm talking extremely light ) on the end papers and an extremely light musty smell is sometimes acceptable to me but any trace or hint or smell of mildew or cigarette smoke is an absolute reject (for me personally). When asking the seller the question with regard to number of color illustrations, I would always ask "how many" rather than asking if all three are present. I started asking that question only after receiving a copy where one of the color illustrations had been torn out so only two were present. My reasoning behind asking "how many" is that then the seller has to count the pages and then send you his/her reply whereas if you ask "if all three are present" it is too easy for them to reply with a simple "yes" and you may end up paying based on thinking it has three only to find out that not all color plates are present. Some sellers that sell books fail to give accurate information in their description about the actual copy they are selling so it's always best to ask before you bid or buy, even if from an antiquarian dealer online.

I want to emphasize again that the majority of this data is that which I have gathered primarily from copies in my collection that have been printed in the USA so as with all things there very well may be printings that vary from my data and that I share this data only to aid other collectors in having a rule of thumb as to dates of printings with regard to number of illustration in color or black & white. My data should not be taken as the last word on this subject as others may exist that would change the findings listed here. I hope this data is helpful to anyone desiring more information on the various printings of Hitty books.

This information is provided for your personal informational use only. Please do not copy or use this data without asking me for permission to do so. ~ You may email me at HittyCouture@gmail.com