A4

Kazuo Ishiguro – The Unconsoled

A4 a. UK Edition

  1. First Edition

Faber & Faber. Published 1st May 1995. Hardback. White endpapers, half-title, title, [ii], 533 pages numbered 3-535. Pages 233mm x 150mm. Black cloth; down spine in white lettering: ‘ff(logo)  Kazuo Ishiguro  The Unconsoled’. ISBN 0-571-17387-X.

Dustjacket. 540mm x 240mm. Front: black with a montage of a suit and tie looming over a group of people and a maze. In white: ‘ff (logo) | Kazuo Ishiguro | The Unconsoled | By the author of The Remains of the Day’. Price on front flap £15.99.

2a.         Proof – First State

Faber & Faber. Paperback. [i], half-title, title, [i], 533 pages numbered 3-535, 1 blank. Pages 215mm x 132mm. Front: black with a graphic of a suit and tie looming over a group of people and a maze. In white: ‘ff (logo) | Kazuo Ishiguro | The Unconsoled | By the Booker Prize-winning | author of The Remains of the Day | UNCORRECTED PROOF’. The back cover has small photograph of a book display bin for bookshops, the blurb, a detailed list of the ways the book will be promoted, the publication date ‘8 May 1995’ and a price of £15.99.

2b.         Proof – Second State

Faber & Faber. Paperback. [i], half-title, title, [i], 533 pages numbered 3-535, 1 blank. Pages 215mm x 132mm. Front: black with a montage of a suit and tie looming over a group of people and a maze. In white: ‘ff (logo) | Kazuo Ishiguro | The Unconsoled | By the Booker Prize-winning | author of The Remains of the Day | UNCORRECTED PROOF’. The back cover only has the blurb and a black pen has been used to amend the publication date to ‘May 1995’ and blank out the price. On the first page (before the half-title) a blue rubber stamp states ‘Publication/Embargo Date: 1 May 1995’.

See photos below.

A4 b. USA Edition

  1. First Edition

Alfred A. Knopf. Published 1st October 1995.Hardback. White endpapers, [i], half-title, title, [ii], 533 pages numbered 3-535. Pages 213mm x 145mm. Black paper covered boards, quarter bound in blue cloth; on upper board in gilt, ‘Kazuo Ishiguro’; down spine in gilt lettering: ‘Kazuo Ishiguro  The UNCONSOLED  ALFRED A. KNOPF’. ISBN 0-679-40425-2.

Dustjacket. 560mm x 219mm. Front: the painting ‘World Body’ by John Bowman and in white: ‘THE UNCONSOLED’, below in red ‘KAZUO ISHIGURO’ and in white ‘author of THE REMAINS OF THE DAY’. Price on front flap $25.00.

2a.  Proof – First State

Alfred A. Knopf. Paperback. [i], half-title, title, [ii], 533 pages numbered 3-535. Pages 212mm x 142mm. Pale grey wrappers with on front cover text concerning publication data; down spine in black lettering: ‘KAZUO ISHIGURO  THE UNCONSOLED  (Borzoi logo)’. Stapled to the verso of the front cover are 2 photocopies: a list of quotes from UK reviews and a review from Publishers Weekly.

2b.  Proof – Second State

Alfred A. Knopf. Paperback. [i], half-title, title, [ii], 533 pages numbered 3-535. Pages 212mm x 136mm. Front cover has the painting ‘World Body’ by John Bowman and in white: ‘THE UNCONSOLED’, below in red ‘KAZUO ISHIGURO’ below that in white ‘author of THE REMAINS OF THE DAY’ with in small white text in a white outline at the lower right ‘UNCORRECTED ADVANCE PROOF’.

3. Broadside – 1

92nd St Y, New York, USA 10th October 1995. Bone coloured card 278mm x 215mm loosely inserted in a 4 page program for an event featuring Kazuo Ishiguro and Edna O’Brien. The broadside features an excerpt from The Unconsoled with an excerpt from O’Brien’s House Of Splendid Isolation on the verso.

4. Broadside – 2

Lannan Foundation, USA 19th October 1995. Buff card 280mm x 380mm folded in half to create a booklet with a 2 page excerpt from The Unconsoled inside. The broadside also acts as a program for the event which was one of a ‘Reading & Conversations’ series sponsored by the Lannan Foundation at the Pacific Design Center, West Hollywood, CA, USA.

See photos below.

A4 c. Canada Edition

  1. First Edition

Knopf Canada. Published October 1995.Hardback. White endpapers, half-title, title, [ii], 533 pages numbered 3-535, 1 blank. Pages 232mm x 141mm. Black boards; down spine in cream lettering: ‘ISHIGURO The Unconsoled  (Borzoi logo) KNOPF CANADA’. ISBN 0-394-28085-7.

Dustjacket. 550mm x 241mm. Front: purple with in the centre an illustration of a man’s upper torso in suit and tie; above in gilt ‘The | Unconsoled’; below in white ‘KAZUO | ISHIGURO | Author of The Remains of the Day’.

Note 1: It appears that all copies had the dustjacket price-clipped before going on sale.

See photos below