Oliver Sacks First Editions

• Migraine: Evolution of a Common Disorder — 1970 · Faber and FaberFirst printing from Faber and Faber (London), 1970, in blue cloth with gilt spine lettering and the original dust jacket. This was Sacks's first book. The US edition (University of California Press) also appeared in 1970. Faber and Faber (UK) is conventionally cited as the first edition of Sacks's debut, 1970. The University of California Press US edition is also dated 1970; precedence between the two 1970 editions is not firmly established, so treat them as effectively contemporaneous. No book club edition. Later revised and expanded editions are first-thus, not the true first.
• Awakenings — 1973 · Gerald DuckworthUK Duckworth (London) 1973, octavo in publisher's black cloth with gilt spine lettering; 255 pages. The first-issue dust jacket should retain its original printed net price (price-clipped copies are common and acceptable), and the copyright page carries no later-printing statement. UK Duckworth (London) 1973 is the true first edition; the US Doubleday edition followed in 1974. The later revised and expanded editions are 'first thus,' not the true first. US Doubleday and subsequent Vintage/Picador printings are reprints; precedence belongs to the 1973 Duckworth edition.
• A Leg to Stand On — 1984 · Gerald Duckworth & Co.First printing from Gerald Duckworth & Co. (London), May 1984; octavo, 168 pages (ISBN 0-7156-1027-9). Bound in burgundy cloth stamped in gilt on the spine, in the original illustrated dust jacket, which should retain its printed price; the jacket spine is prone to sunning. The US edition (Summit Books) followed later in 1984 and incorporated authorial revisions. UK true first (Duckworth, May 1984) precedes the US Summit Books edition (ISBN 0-671-46780-8). The American text was revised, so the two editions differ. No prominent book club edition.
• The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales — 1985 · Gerald DuckworthUK Duckworth: black cloth, gilt spine lettering; 233pp, illustrated; first-issue dust jacket priced 9.95 net. US Summit (New York): pale green paper-covered boards over red spine cloth lettered in gilt; first printing identified by a complete number line on the copyright page. Both the UK Duckworth (London) and US Summit Books (New York) editions are dated 1985. Sacks was British and Duckworth was his long-standing UK publisher, so the Duckworth printing is generally treated as the true first; exact month-of-issue precedence between the two 1985 printings is not firmly documented, so collectors who require the earliest issue should confirm provenance. A US book-club issue exists; it typically lacks a jacket price and may show a blind-stamp on the rear board. On Summit copies, verify the full number line to distinguish a true first printing from later printings.
• Seeing Voices: A Journey into the World of the Deaf — 1989 · University of California PressHardcover in dust jacket; University of California Press (Berkeley/Los Angeles) imprint with 1989 copyright, ISBN 0-520-06083-0. Bound in black cloth over gray boards, stamped in silver on the spine; 180 pages, with photographs, illustrations, notes, references, and index. The pictorial first-state jacket should retain its printed price on the front flap (unclipped). The UC Press 1989 issue is the true first. US University of California Press (Berkeley/Los Angeles), 1989, is the true first, carrying ISBN 0-520-06083-0. The 1990 HarperCollins/Harper Perennial trade issue is a later 'first thus,' not the first. The UC Press 1989 hardcover is the true first. The more common 1990 trade edition was published by HarperCollins (not Knopf) and is a reprint, not the first.
• An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales — 1995 · Alfred A. KnopfFirst edition stating First Edition with the Borzoi colophon on the copyright page; tan buckram with yellow paper over the boards; first-issue dust jacket (design by Barbara de Wilde) carries the original price. US Knopf (New York) is the true first, 1995; the UK Picador edition is also 1995. Confirm the Knopf imprint for the US first. Confirm the stated First Edition with Borzoi line; book-club issues lack the jacket price.
• The Island of the Colorblind — 1996 · PicadorThe true first is the UK Picador hardcover, published 1996 as 'The Island of the Colour-blind' (British spelling). The US Alfred A. Knopf edition followed in 1997, stated 'First Edition' with a number line descending to 1 and a Chip Kidd jacket; the US issue pairs the main text with 'Cycad Island'. Corrected precedence: the UK Picador hardcover (1996) precedes the US Knopf hardcover (1997) by roughly a year, so Picador is the true global first edition. Knopf 1997 is the US first edition, not the overall first. No prominent book club edition.
• Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood — 2001 · Alfred A. KnopfFirst US printing states 'First Edition' on the copyright page with a full number line descending to 1; publisher's boards with dust jacket, jacket price present. The UK edition was published by Picador (Macmillan). US Knopf edition is generally treated as the true first. The UK Picador edition appeared the same year and is collected as the UK first. No prominent book-club edition; distinguish any later printing by the number line no longer ending in 1.
• Oaxaca Journal — 2002 · National Geographic SocietyFirst edition is the National Geographic Society hardcover in the National Geographic Directions series, dated 2002 on the title/copyright page, with the National Geographic Society imprint and jacket price present. A slim travel volume. US true first is the National Geographic Society (Directions series) hardcover of 2002. The Vintage edition is a later reprint, not the first. No prominent book-club edition.
• Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain — 2007 · Alfred A. KnopfFirst US printing states 'First Edition' on the copyright page with a full number line descending to 1; publisher's boards with dust jacket, jacket price present. The UK edition was published by Picador. US Knopf 2007 edition is the true first. The Revised and Expanded edition (Vintage paperback, 2008) is a first-thus, not the true first. The UK Picador edition appeared the same year. No prominent book-club edition.
• The Mind's Eye — 2010 · Alfred A. KnopfFirst US printing states 'First Edition' on the copyright page with a full number line descending to 1; octavo in publisher's boards with dust jacket, jacket price present. The UK edition was published by Picador. US Knopf edition is generally treated as the true first. The UK Picador edition appeared the same year and is collected as the UK first. No prominent book-club edition.
• Hallucinations — 2012 · Alfred A. KnopfFirst US printing states 'First Edition' on the copyright page with a full number line descending to 1; publisher's boards with dust jacket, jacket price present. The UK edition was published by Picador. US Knopf edition is generally treated as the true first. The UK Picador edition appeared the same year and is collected as the UK first. No prominent book-club edition.
• Gratitude — 2015 · Alfred A. KnopfKnopf states 'First Edition' on the copyright page with a number line ending in 1. Slim posthumous volume of four essays (Mercury; My Own Life; My Periodic Table; Sabbath), edited by Kate Edgar and Bill Hayes. Priced dust jacket. US true first (Knopf, New York); published posthumously. No book-club edition.
• On the Move: A Life — 2015 · Alfred A. KnopfFirst US printing states 'First Edition' on the copyright page with a full number line descending to 1; publisher's boards with dust jacket, jacket price present. Memoir. The UK edition was published by Picador. US Knopf edition is generally treated as the true first. The UK Picador edition appeared the same year and is collected as the UK first. No prominent book-club edition.
• The River of Consciousness — 2017 · Alfred A. KnopfKnopf states 'First Edition' on the copyright page with a number line descending to 1. Priced dust jacket (the printed price should be present on the flap, unclipped). The jacket carries a photograph of the young Sacks astride a BMW motorcycle. Posthumous essay collection, first published October 2017. This title was published in the UK by Picador on 19 October 2017, a few days ahead of the US Knopf edition on 24 October 2017, so the Picador printing is the precedence first; the Knopf issue is the US first. Posthumous; first appearance of these essays as a collected volume. No book-club edition.
• Everything in Its Place: First Loves and Last Tales — 2019 · Alfred A. KnopfFirst edition, first printing, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, published April 23, 2019, in octavo (274 pages). The copyright page states 'First Edition' with a number line descending to 1. The binding is blue cloth stamped in silver on the spine; the dust jacket is photographic and should retain its printed price on the front flap. This posthumous collection gathers Sacks's late essays. US true first (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2019); published posthumously. This Knopf hardcover is the earliest form; identify it by the Knopf imprint and the stated 'First Edition' with the number line ending in 1. No book-club edition; a first is confirmed by the 'First Edition' statement, the full number line ending in 1, and the intact priced photographic jacket over blue cloth.

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