Introduction and a short history of the early Peanuts First Editions
Cover of the first printing of the First Edition of "Peanuts" 1952
About the Guide
This guide came about because there seems to be quite a bit of confusion among sellers and collectors about what constitutes the first printings of the first editions of the first Peanuts reprint books and no definitive first edition point checklist has been printed anywhere.
Nat Gertler's authoritative Aaugh.com has a wealth of information about the multitude of Peanuts book editions in their various formats and he has listed which strips were in the various different series of reprint editions, including the early Rinehart books which are the subject of this article. Aaugh.com is an incredibly valuable resource and provided the starting point for this guide and Mr. Gertler is owed a debt of gratitude by fans everywhere for his labor of love in compiling such an amazing collection of information on all things Peanuts.
The current guide published here is more highly specialized in identifying the first edition, first print identification points of the first series of Peanuts strip reprints, published by Rinehart & Co., Inc and Holt, Rinehart & Winston, Inc. from 1952 through 1974, which Mr. Gertler has dubbed the “Full Books” series.
As this guide is a work in progress, readers are encouraged to contact the author with any variant information discovered (especially anyone with a copy of a Second Printing Hardcover of "More Peanuts") @ lowellgwilson@gmail.com
“Peanuts” - the first collection
Although the total number of all Peanuts collections printed probably numbers in the tens, if not hundreds of millions, the Peanuts publication history has inauspicious beginnings. The first book was simply titled “Peanuts” and was printed as a digest sized paperback with blue wrappers featuring Charlie Brown, Schroeder, Snoopy and Patty.
The first printing of the book was printed without any price on the cover. Most extant copies have $1.00 hand stamped on the cover with a rubber stamp, a somewhat homely and folksy reminder of the humble launch of the Peanuts paperback juggernaut.
A copy is known with the colophon and what appears to be a machine printed price in the space above the author name. Its priority is indeterminate at this time but, if machine printed, it is likely that it was done after the hand printed price copies by either being run through a press a second time or during a later set of cover printings.
First printings also have the Rinehart colophon of an "R in circle" on the copyright page. A colophon that Rinehart used to identify all of its first printings of first editions at the time.
Perhaps Rinehart was unsure how much it would be able to charge for this new cartoon property, the strip was only two years old at this time and, although gaining in popularity, was unproven in book form. Mass market paperbacks at the time cost 25 cents and 35 cents for “giant” editions.
The First Edition of "Peanuts" was initially announced to be published August 21st, 1952 in Publisher's Weekly but two later ads stated it was to be published on July 31st, 1952. The later publication date is likely the correct one, given the publication date inside the later printings.
Rinehart advertisement for "Peanuts" in the June 14th, 1952 edition of Publisher's Weekly
We do not know any statement of the exact number of copies of the first printing of the First Edition that were printed. A January 28th, 1958 Publisher's Weekly announcement claimed that 12,500 copies of “Peanuts” had been sold in the first 6 months and 25,000 copies in the first year of publication. A September 18th, 1954 Publisher's Weekly announcement indicated that 35,000 copies had been sold since it was published. At that time, It had gone through four printings.
The Peanuts publication schedule in subsequent printings indicated a first printing in July, 1952, a second in December, 1952, a third in May, 1953 and a fourth in January, 1954. Taken together, this information leads to a conclusion that 12,500 copies were likely printed in the first printing in July, 1952. Six months later, a second printing of 12,500 copies in December, 1952 would aggregate to 25,000 in the first year as reported in Publisher's Weekly in January, 1958. Third and fourth printings would likely be 5,000 each to add up to 35,000 as of September, 1954.
The exact number printed aside, the first printing of the First Edition of “Peanuts” was small for a paperback run and that initial scarcity is further evidenced by the relative rarity of copies that appear for sale as compared to later printings and later books in the series. This rarity was surely augmented by the fact that these books were “well loved” by young readers and not intended or likely to become collector's items in anyone's mind at the time of publication.
"Peanuts" printing history published in the Twentieth Printing in August 1960
Cover of the first printing of the First Edition of "More Peanuts" 1954
“More Peanuts” - the hard cover experiment
The second Peanuts book published by Rinehart & Co., Inc. was titled “More Peanuts”. A September 18th, 1954 Publisher's Weekly announcement proclaimed its release on September 30th, 1954.
It would be “Identical in format except that it will be bound in boards instead of paper. The price is low, only $1.50” The publication announcements surrounding “More Peanuts” indicate a greater publicity push, including counter displays and advertisements running in the newspapers that carried the strip. The “Peanuts” audience was growing and the marketing campaign behind the books ramping up.
“More Peanuts” cover of pictorial boards featured Charlie Brown and Lucy walking with animal toys on wheels in tow. Charlie Brown pulls a duck, Lucy pulls a skunk, fitting to their personalities. The price of $1.50 seems to have been a bit of a stretch for readers as it was the only edition of the full books initially released in hardcovers and at that price. There is an amusing pair of letters at the Minnesota Historical Society early on between Schulz and Walt Kelly, creator of Pogo, filled with mutual admiration and also an offhand joke by Kelly about Shulz' book costing a “half-buck more”.
Although good natured, the joke seems to have been a fair criticism. An August 20th, 1956 announcement in Publisher's Weekly indicates that the price of “More Peanuts” had been reduced to $1.00. This presumably is approximately the release date of the third printing of “More Peanuts”, this time in soft covers, priced at $1.00.
As with "Peanuts", it takes a bit of guessing and supposition to calculate an initial print run for “More Peanuts”. The first ad for the third Peanuts book “Good Grief, More Peanuts” on August 27th, 1956, indicated that 60,000 copies of “Peanuts” and “More Peanuts” had been sold.
Since we know that 35,000 copies of “Peanuts” had been sold by September 1954, this would calculate to less than a 25,000 print run for “More Peanuts” since two years had passed and five more printings of “Peanuts” gone to press. We know from printing figures on subsequent printings that there was a second printing in January 1955. The author has seen, but does not possess, a copy of the hardcover with "Second Printing" notated on the copyright page. The announced price reduction to $1.00 for “More Peanuts” in August, 1956 infers that the third printing of “More Peanuts” dated August, 1956 in the printing list, was the first paperback edition priced at $1.00.
It may well be that “More Peanuts" also had an initial print run of 12,500 that pre-ordered well but had a hard time selling a second printing out at $1.50 so the third printing was run at $1.00 in August 1956. Regardless of what the figure actually was, the hardcover first printing of “More Peanuts” is exceedingly hard to find, even more so than the first printing of “Peanuts” in the author's experience.
September 4th, 1954 promotion for "More Peanuts" display cartons in Publishers Weekly.
"Good Grief, More Peanuts"
From 1956 on, the number of copies of the Peanuts books sold began to increase parabolically. Announcements for the third book, “Good Grief, More Peanuts”, indicate a first printing of 25,000 copies and a Publisher's Weekly article in March 1957 noted that the 3 books combined were selling 1,500 copies a day.
“Good Grief, More Peanuts” was the first of the books printed in the oblong landscape format. It was the last of the books printed with such a low first print run and is also quite scarce in the first printing. This first printing is also notable in that it is very slightly larger in size compared to the later printings.
Cover of the first printing of the First Edition of "Good Grief, More Peanuts" 1956
Cover of the first printing of the First Edition of "Good Ol' Charlie Brown" 1957
"Good Ol' Charlie Brown"
“Good Ol' Charlie Brown” was the fourth Peanuts title released and the first to feature a single character's name. The Publisher's Weekly release announcement in August, 1957 indicated an advance sale of 25,000 copies of a 100,000 copy first print run, a significant increase in both actual sales and the publisher's confidence in eventual sales.
The same announcement indicated sales of “Peanuts” at 87,500 through 13 printings, “More Peanuts” at 60,900 through six printings and “Good Grief, More Peanuts” selling 2500 copies per week for 87,000 copies in its fifth printing. These sales figures also bolster the theory of a low print run and sales for the “More Peanuts” hardcover printing at $1.50.
Rinehart was increasing their advertising for each successive book published. A full page ad in the back of Publisher's weekly for "Good Ol' Charlie Brown" proclaimed "$20,000 in advertising space - a campaign to reach over 12,000,000 readers of 20 newspapers and 17 college papers, as well as The New Yorker and The New York Times Book Review. The biggest, longest campaign yet for a Peanuts book."
"Snoopy" – The Bestseller Breakthrough
Of course it was the release of “Snoopy”, the fifth book in the Rinehart Peanuts series, that broke through completely into the American mainstream. The dog who would write novels and battle the Red Baron in his Sopwith Camel was well on his way to becoming a cultural icon on his own and his popularity sent Peanuts sales onto the best seller lists.
Rinehart announcements in Publisher's Weekly in 1957 and early 1958 lament the fact that the Peanuts books along with other cartoon books like Walt Kelly's Pogo and Dennis Ketcham's Dennis The Menace, had never appeared on bestseller lists, despite having sales that rivaled or bested listed bestsellers.
A preview ad for “Snoopy” dated June 2nd, 1958 showed sales of the previously released Peanuts books having surpassed 750,000 copies and Snoopy lying in the grass prepared to pounce on (presumably) unsuspecting new Peanuts book consumers.
“Snoopy” appears on Publisher's Weekly's October 14th, 1958 “Bestsellers of the Week” list with the caption revealing that Snoopy had been released on August 6th, 1958 with advance sales of 75,000 copies and that 113,000 copies had been sold. This was triple the advance sales of “Good Ol' Charlie Brown” and resulted in one of the seemingly odd anomalies in Peanuts first printing identifications.
“Snoopy” has a second printing with the Rinehart colophon of an “R in circle” on the copyright page. It is noted on the copyright page of the second printing that this is the “Second Printing before Publication” dated August, 1958, underneath the notation that the First Printing was printed in June, 1958.
All Peanuts books released during Rinehart's publication of the books before merging with Holt and Winston can be identified affirmatively by the presence of the Rinehart “R in circle” colophon on the copyright page and no indication of which printing it is.
Cover of the first printing of the First Edition of "Snoopy" 1958
Peanuts continued publications, merger with Holt, onward and upward
Rinehart issued two more successful Peanuts strip reprints, “You're Out Of Your Mind Charlie Brown” and “But We Love You Charlie Brown” in 1959 and 1960 respectively, along with the first Hardcover with a Dust Jacket, “Peanuts Revisited” which revisited strips from 1955 through 1959 in 1960.
In 1960, Rinehart merged with Henry Holt and Company and the John C. Winston Company to form Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc. From that point forward, the Rinehart “R in circle” colophon was no longer used to denote first printings by the company.
The first printing of the first book after the merger, “Go Fly A Kite Charlie Brown” had no colophon and also no first printing marking noted on the copyright page, although later printings still noted the later printing number. It should be considered a transitional title since all the subsequent titles printed by Holt, Rinehart & Winston , Inc. noted “First Edition” on the copyright page to indicate that it was the first printing of the first edition.
As should be expected, all of the earlier Peanuts editions are relatively rarer in the first print than the later editions due to the escalating print runs and phenomenal success of the Peanuts strip and crossover into other mass entertainment markets in the 1960's. Many a Peanuts consumer, the author of this article included, encountered their first book reading of the Peanuts gang in one of the Peanuts “Full Book” editions published by Rinehart and subsequently by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Today, twenty four years after Charles Schulz has passed on, his creations remain in print with no end in sight.
Lowell Wilson - January, 2024