A7

Kazuo Ishiguro – Never Let Me Go

A7 a. UK Edition

  1. First Edition

Faber & Faber. Published 1st March 2005. Hardback. Amber endpapers, half-title, title, [iii], 261 pages numbered 3-263. Pages 215mm x 130mm. Dark green cloth; down spine in cream lettering: ‘Never Let Me Go  KAZUO ISHIGURO  ff(logo)’. ISBN 0-571-22411-3.

Dustjacket. 510mm x 223mm. Front: a blurred photograph of a woman in a blue-green dress. In black: ‘Kazuo Ishiguro’ and in dark red ‘Never Let Me Go’. Price on front flap £16.99.

2. Proof

Faber & Faber. Paperback. Half-title, title, [ii], 261 pages numbered 3-263, 1 blank. Pages 211mm x 128mm. Front: a blurred photograph of a woman in a blue-green dress. In black: ‘Kazuo Ishiguro’ and in dark red ‘Never Let Me Go’.

3. Limited Edition Proof

Faber & Faber. Hardback. Half-title, title, [ii], 261 pages numbered 3-263, 1 blank. Pages 215mm x 134mm. Yellow boards with on front a dark grey rectangle framed by white and black lines with in white: ‘KAZUO ISHIGURO | Never Let Me Go | MARCH 2005’. On the half title is printed ‘Limited edition | Number xx of 130’. All recorded copies have been signed by Ishiguro on the title page.

4. Limited Edition

Faber & Faber. Published 1st March 2005. Hardback. Amber endpapers, half-title, title, [iii], 261 pages numbered 3-263. Pages 215mm x 130mm. Dark green cloth; down spine in cream lettering: ‘Never Let Me Go  KAZUO ISHIGURO  ff(logo)’. ISBN 0-571-22411-3. Copies are exactly the same as the standard first edition but are signed by Ishiguro to the title page and hand numbered ‘nn/1000’. Comes in a beige cloth covered slipcase which has a smaller version of the dustjacket image on one side along with the wording “signed and numbered limited edition’ in rose gold gilt. This version initially sold for £25.

5. The Folio Society Edition

The Folio Society. Published 2012. Hardback. Dark blue endpapers, half-title, [i], title, [viii], 266 pages numbered 7-272, 1 blank. Includes 9 illustrations by Kate Miller. Pages 215mm x 134mm. Blue cloth boards with an illustration of a large building and balloons. Text down the spine in grey ‘Kazuo Ishiguro’, in yellow ‘Never Let Me Go’, and in grey ‘FOLIO’. No dustjacket but comes in a dark blue paper covered slipcase.

6. Everyman’s Library Edition

Everyman’s Library. Published 2023. Hardback. White endpapers with the Everyman’s logo in gold, [i], title, [i], [xx] introduction by David Sexton, bibliography and chronology, [iv], 248 pages numbered 9-256, [v]. Pages 205mm x 122mm. Red cloth boards and a gold fabric bookmark attached to the head of spine. Down spine in gilt lettering on black: ‘KAZUO ISHIGURO NEVER LET ME GO’, and lower down in gilt ‘EVERYMAN’S | LIBRARY’. ISBN 978-1-84159-410-1.

    Dustjacket. 488mm x 211mm. Front: a black and burnt sienna photograph of Kazuo Ishiguro. In white on a black rectangle ‘Kazuo Ishiguro’, below in white ‘NEVER LET ME GO’, and lower down in white ‘(Everyman’s logo) | EVERYMAN’S LIBRARY | INTRODUCTION BY DAVID SEXTON’. Price on front flap £16.99.

    7. 20th Anniversary Edition

    Faber & Faber. Published 13st March 2025. Hardback. Illustrated endpapers showing a music cassette on a purple background with a light blue band of light, [ii], title, [iv] introduction by Ishiguro, half title, [iii], 339 pages numbered 5-343, 3 blanks. Pages 215mm x 131mm. Dark blue boards quarter bound with pale pink paper and a 50mm x 50mm cut-out showing the cassette on the endpapers; down spine in dark blue lettering: ‘(a square) KAZUO ISHIGURO  NEVER LET ME GO  ff(logo)’. ISBN 978-0-571-39721-1. No dustjacket.

    Note 1: A limited number of copies were issued with a tipped-in page after the front endpaper that states “NEVER LET ME GO | 20th ANNIVERSARY EDITION | Signed Copy” and signed by Kazuo Ishiguro. These copies inevitably have a “Signed by the author” sticker on the front board.

    See photos below.

    A7 b. USA Edition

    1. First Edition

    Alfred A. Knopf. Published 11th April 2005. Hardback. White endpapers, [i], half-title, title, [iii], 286 pages numbered 3-288, 1 blank, [ii]. Pages 212mm x 140mm. Mindaro green paper covered boards, quarter bound in dark green paper; down spine in lime lettering: ‘KAZUO ISHIGURO  NEVER LET ME GO  KNOPF’. ISBN 1-4000-4339-5.

    Dustjacket. 531mm x 217mm. Front: a photograph entitled ‘Christina’ by Lieutenant-Colonel Mervyn O’Gorman. In yellow: ‘NEVER LET ME GO’, below in white ‘KAZUO ISHIGURO | A NOVEL | by the author of THE REMAINS OF THE DAY’. Price on front flap $24.00.

    2a. Proof – First State

    Alfred A. Knopf. Paperback. [i], half-title, title, [iii], 285 pages numbered 3-287, [ii]. Pages 213mm x 131mm. Blue wrappers with publication data on the front in black; down spine in black lettering: ‘Kazuo Ishiguro  NEVER LET ME GO  (Borzoi logo) KNOPF APRIL 2005’. Inside the front wrapper is a trial of the published dustjacket front cover.

    2b. Proof – Second State

    Alfred A. Knopf. Paperback. [ii], half-title, title, [iii], 285 pages numbered 3-287, [i]. Pages 212mm x 133mm. Front: a photograph entitled ‘Christina’ by Lieutenant-Colonel Mervyn O’Gorman. In yellow: ‘ADVANCE READER’S EDITION | NEVER LET ME GO’, below in white ‘KAZUO ISHIGURO | A NOVEL BY THE AUTHOR OF | THE REMAINS OF THE DAY | AND | WHEN WE WERE ORPHANS’.

    3. Broadside

    Wolverine Press, Ann Arbor, MI, USA 2005. White card 294mm x 221mm with a decorative border in red and an excerpt from Never Let Me Go. This was a limited edition of 100 copies.

    See photos below.