# Is "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead Books, 2007) is identified by: True first is Riverhead Books, New York, 2007, approx. US Riverhead (May 22, 2007) is the recognized true first; the UK Bloomsbury edition is near-simultaneous 2007 and the collected first in Britain.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first is Riverhead Books, New York, 2007, approx
- 372 pp, ISBN 978-1-59448-950-1; the copyright page carries the number line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 (no separate 'First Edition' slug)
- Binding is green paper boards with a gilt circular medallion to the front, a black cloth spine lettered in gilt, and maroon/burgundy endpapers; the rear jacket bears five review blurbs plus an Isabel Allende blurb, with the price present at the front flap
- First-issue jacket point: in the barcode field the ISBN was misprinted 978-1-59448-950-5 and blacked out, with the correct 978-1-59448-950-1 printed beside it
- Publisher imprint reads Riverhead Books
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Khaled Hosseini |
| Publisher | Riverhead Books |
| Year | 2007 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | True first is Riverhead Books, New York, 2007, approx |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
True first is Riverhead Books, New York, 2007, approx. 372 pp, ISBN 978-1-59448-950-1; the copyright page carries the number line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 (no separate 'First Edition' slug). Binding is green paper boards with a gilt circular medallion to the front, a black cloth spine lettered in gilt, and maroon/burgundy endpapers; the rear jacket bears five review blurbs plus an Isabel Allende blurb, with the price present at the front flap. First-issue jacket point: in the barcode field the ISBN was misprinted 978-1-59448-950-5 and blacked out, with the correct 978-1-59448-950-1 printed beside it.

## Is this the true first?
US Riverhead (May 22, 2007) is the recognized true first; the UK Bloomsbury edition is near-simultaneous 2007 and the collected first in Britain. Both are 2007 English-language firsts, with US Riverhead holding trade precedence.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
A signed limited first edition (one of 1,500) is a special issue distinct from the trade first. Later trade printings drop the 1 from the number line; confirm the green-boards/gilt-medallion binding and the first-issue jacket ISBN-correction point.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Thousand Splendid Suns* by Khaled Hosseini a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-thousand-splendid-suns
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.