# Is "Seeing Voices: A Journey into the World of the Deaf" by Oliver Sacks a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Seeing Voices: A Journey into the World of the Deaf by Oliver Sacks (University of California Press, 1989) is identified by: Hardcover in dust jacket; University of California Press (Berkeley/Los Angeles) imprint with 1989 copyright, ISBN 0-520-06083-0. US University of California Press (Berkeley/Los Angeles), 1989, is the true first, carrying ISBN 0-520-06083-0.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Hardcover 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
- Publisher imprint reads University of California Press

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Oliver Sacks |
| Publisher | University of California Press |
| Year | 1989 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Hardcover in dust jacket |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Hardcover 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.

## Is this 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.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
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.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Seeing Voices: A Journey into the World of the Deaf* by Oliver Sacks a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/seeing-voices-a-journey-into-the-world-of-the-deaf
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.