A13

Kazuo Ishiguro – Klara and the Sun

a. UK Edition

1a. First Edition – Standard Issue

Faber & Faber. Published 2nd March 2021. Hardback. Black endpapers, half-title, title, [ii], 307 pages numbered 1-307, 3 blanks. Pages 234mm x 147mm. Gold paper covered boards; down spine in black lettering: ‘KAZUO ISHIGURO  (square graphic)  KLARA AND THE SUN  ff(logo)’. ISBN 978-0-571-36487-9.

Dustjacket. 550mm x 241mm. Front: Red with a graphic representation of a square window (80mm x 80mm and indented) revealing a yellow sun in a blue sky (the graphic is overlaid with a thin transparent film presumably to emphasise that it’s a window); above in black: ‘KLARA AND THE SUN’ and below in black ‘KAZUO ISHIGURO’, and in smaller lettering ‘WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE’. Price on front flap £20.00.

1b. First Edition – Independent Bookshops Issue

Faber & Faber. Published 2nd March 2021. Hardback. Black endpapers, half-title, title, [ii], 307 pages numbered 1-307, 3 blanks. Pages 234mm x 147mm. Amaranth paper covered boards; down spine in black lettering: ‘KAZUO ISHIGURO  (square graphic)  KLARA AND THE SUN  ff(logo)’. Includes a rose-coloured fabric bookmark. ISBN 978-0-571-36620-0.

Dustjacket. 550mm x 241mm. Front: Blue with a graphic representation of a square window (80mm x 80mm and indented) revealing an orange sun in a pink sky (the graphic is overlaid with a thin transparent film presumably to emphasise that it’s a window); above in black: ‘KLARA AND THE SUN’ and below in black ‘KAZUO ISHIGURO’, and in smaller lettering ‘WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE’. Price on front flap £20.00.

1c. First Edition – Waterstones Issue

Faber & Faber. Published 2nd March 2021. Hardback. Multi-coloured endpapers with various graphics of a sun and sky through a window, half-title, title, [ii], 307 pages numbered 1-307, 3 blanks. Pages 234mm x 147mm. Gold paper covered boards; down spine in black lettering: ‘KAZUO ISHIGURO  (square graphic)  KLARA AND THE SUN  ff(logo)’. Includes a gold-coloured fabric bookmark. The page edges are sprayed blue with a yellow crescent representing the sun in the sky. Sold in Waterstones bookshops. ISBN 978-0-571-36621-7.

Dustjacket. 550mm x 241mm. Front: Red with a graphic representation of a square window (80mm x 80mm and indented) revealing a yellow sun in a blue sky (the graphic is overlaid with a thin transparent film presumably to emphasise that it’s a window); above in black: ‘KLARA AND THE SUN’ and below in black ‘KAZUO ISHIGURO’, and in smaller lettering ‘WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE’. Price on front flap £20.00.

2. Proof

Faber & Faber. Paperback. Half title, title, [ii], 307 pages numbered 1-307, 2 blanks. Pages 216mm x 128mm. Front: Red with a graphic representation of a square window (74mm x 74mm) revealing a yellow sun in a blue sky; above in black: ‘KLARA AND THE SUN’ and below in black ‘KAZUO ISHIGURO’, and in smaller lettering ‘UNCORRECTED PROOF’. Down the spine in black, ‘KAZUO ISHIGURO  (window graphic)  KLARA AND THE SUN  MARCH 2021  ff(logo)’.

2a. Proof – Variant

A proof has been recorded (MW collection) which is exactly the same as the standard proof but with a variation to the front cover. Instead of the graphic of a window, sky and sun there is actually a square cut-out (60mm x 60mm, so smaller in dimensions than the printed version and not a case of the graphic being cut out) and glued to the verso is a rectangle of hard plastic with the sky and sun image printed on it. This was a possibly trial for the slipcased limited edition.

3. Signed Slipcased Limited Edition

Faber & Faber. Published 2nd March 2021. Hardback. The endpapers feature a yellow sun on a blue-green sky, limitation page, title, [ii], 307 pages numbered 1-307, [ii]. Pages 234mm x 149mm. Red boards with a 66mm x 66mm square hole cut to show part of the endpapers (thus providing the same image as on the standard edition dustjacket); no text on the front board. ISBN 978-0-571-36489-3.  Signed by Ishiguro to the limitation page and hand numbered. Limited edition copies, numbered 1-200, were made available for sale and 5 copies, numbered i-v were reserved for the author. There is no dustjacket, as issued.

Slipcase. 251mm x 169mm. Black cloth covered slipcase with ‘KLARA AND THE SUN in blind to the front.

4. Summer Edition

Faber & Faber. Published June 2021. Hardback. The endpapers feature a yellow sun on a blue-green sky and a blurb in black, half title, title, [ii], 307 pages numbered 1-307, [ii]. The rear endpapers feature a short author biography. Pages 233mm x 147mm. Red illustrated boards with a graphic representation of a square window (80mm x 80mm) revealing a gilt sun in a blue sky; above in black ‘THE #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER’, in gilt: ‘KLARA AND THE SUN’, and below in gilt ‘KAZUO ISHIGURO’, and in smaller black lettering ‘WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE’. ISBN 978-0-571-37489-2. There is no dustjacket, as issued.

Note: Some copies were sold as “Signed by the author’. These have a multi-coloured bookplate featuring variations on the theme of the dustjacket “sun” graphic. The bookplates are signed by Ishiguro and fixed to the title page.

4a. Summer Edition – Waterstones

There is a variant of the Summer Edition which was sold by Waterstones bookshops. The only difference is that it has yellow sprayed page edges. A video promoting this appeared on the Waterstones Facebook.

5. Broadside / Art Print

Faber & Faber. Published March 2021. Broadside (also referred to as an Art Print). 254mm x 178mm white card with a short quote from ‘Klara and the Sun’ and down the right-hand side multi-coloured and varying graphics of a sun and sky through a window, as used on the endpapers of the Waterstones first edition (see A13 a1c). This was sold online to Faber Members.

See photos below.

b. USA Edition

1. First Edition

Alfred A. Knopf. Published 2nd March 2021.Hardback. White endpapers, 1 blank, [i], half-title, title, [ii], 301 pages numbered 3-303, [ii], 2 blanks. Pages 231mm x 151mm. Black paper covered boards; down spine in gilt: ‘KAZUO ISHIGURO  Klara and the Sun  (Borzoi logo) ALFRED A. KNOPF’. ISBN 978-0-593-31817-1.

Dustjacket. 541mm x 241mm. Front: Red with a graphic of a pale yellow hand with a gilt sun in the palm. Above in black ‘KLARA AND | THE SUN | A NOVEL’ and below in black ‘KAZUO | ISHIGURO | WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE | IN LITERATURE’. Price on front flap $28.00.

2. Proof

Alfred A. Knopf. Paperback. [i], half-title, title, [ii], 301 pages numbered 3-303, [iii], 1 blank. Pages 234mm x 146mm. Front: Red with a graphic of a pale yellow hand with a yellow sun in the palm; above in black ‘KLARA AND | THE SUN | A NOVEL’, and below in black ‘KAZUO | ISHIGURO | WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE | IN LITERATURE’.  Also, to the upper right the Knopf “Advance Reader’s Edition | Not For Sale” standard device.

See photos below.

c. Canada Edition

  1. First Edition

Faber & Faber. Published 2nd March 2021. Hardback. White endpapers, 1 blank, [i], half-title, title, [ii], 301 pages numbered 3-303, [ii], 2 blanks. Pages 230mm x 148mm. Black paper covered boards; down spine in gilt lettering: ‘KAZUO ISHIGURO  KLARA AND THE SUN  (Borzoi logo) Knopf Canada’. ISBN 978-0-735-28124-0.

Dustjacket. 535mm x 238mm. Front: Red with a graphic representation of a square window (75mm x 75mm) revealing a yellow sun in a blue sky (the graphic is overlaid with a thin transparent film presumably to emphasise that it’s a window); above in black: ‘KLARA AND THE SUN’ and below in black ‘KAZUO ISHIGURO’, and in smaller lettering ‘WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE’. Price on front flap CAN $34.00.

See photos below.