Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 3 Nov 2026.
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Project Hail Mary was originally published on 4 May 2021. Ballantine Books issued it in the United States that day, and Del Rey (Penguin Random House UK) published the British hardback in London on the same date. The UK first is the Del Rey hardback, ISBN 9781529100617; the American first is the Ballantine hardback, whose jacket was designed by Will Staehle. Look for the Del Rey imprint and the 978-1-5291 ISBN on the copyright page and jacket. The Penguin Books paperback of 2022 (ISBN 9781529157468) is a later issue, not a first.
Science fiction and fantasy often made its first appearance in paperback, and in that case the paperback is the true first, so do not write off a Del Rey paperback as a reprint because of its format.
Read the full guide to Del Rey first editions, decade by decade, and check your copy's copyright page against it. Our number line decoder reads the printing from the row of numbers.
We have not yet confirmed the issue points that tell this first impression from later ones. Until we do, compare your copy's title page and copyright page with the publisher, place and year above: any later printing or edition statement means it is not this one.
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Del Rey, London, in 2021, in hardback.
Points of issue are listed only where at least two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 3 November 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.
For most books published since the 1920s, the original dust jacket carries a large share of the value, often most …
Read the guide →7 min readTo identify a first edition, check that your copy is the first printing of the first edition. Read the copyright …
Read the guide →6 min readBook condition grading uses a six-step trade scale: Fine, Near Fine, Very Good, Good, Fair and Poor. Collectors grade the …
Read the guide →