First Edition Points and Criteria for All the Light We Cannot See

Year Published: 2014
Author Last Name: Doerr
Author First Name: Anthony
Publisher: Scribner
Original Price: $27.00
Pages: 531

"First Scribner hardcover edition May 2014" is stated on the copyright page along with full number line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2. Boards are navy blue with black lettering on a light green spine. Dust jacket has no statements of awards or prizes on the front, and has a QR code on the back panel that directs mobile devices to the author's web page. The dust jacket remained the same until at least the the 11th printing. The National Book Award Finalist badge was added sometime in late 2014, and a second badge was added shortly after for being selected as one of the New York Times 10 best books of 2014. The QR code remained on the back panel through the 29th printing. It was removed on the 30th printing.

A Wall Street Journal article in April 2015 stated that the first printing was 62,500 copies, and that total copies including later printings and e-books was 1.6 million. It also stated that the publisher was going back to press for 100,000 additional copies after the Pulitzer win.

Note: Although it is odd that the copyright page states first hardcover edition, it is important to note that a paperback edition was not released in 2014. Thus the first hardcover edition is the true first edition.

Also note that as part of their "Indiespensable" subscription club, Powell's in Portland Oregon sold a regular U.S. first edition of All the Light We Cannot See that was signed by the author, and housed in a custom third-party slipcase manufactured by Taylor Box Company of Warren, Rhode Island. These books are not limited or special publisher's editions. Any other first edition is just as "true" as these packaged books.

All the Light We Cannot See won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.


Picture of the 2014 first edition dust jacket for All the Light We Cannot See.


Picture of the first edition copyright page for All the Light We Cannot See.


Picture of dust jacket where original $27.00 price is found for All the Light We Cannot See.


Picture of the back dust jacket for the first edition of All the Light We Cannot See.


Picture of the first edition Scribner boards for All the Light We Cannot See.


Picture of the back dust jacket flap for the first edition of All the Light We Cannot See.


Picture of the first edition title page for All the Light We Cannot See.