Hardback

Stuff Matters (2013)

Mark Miodownik · Viking, London

Publisher Viking Year 2013 ISBN 9780670920549

Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 20 Oct 2026.

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In short

Quick answer

Who published the Stuff Matters 2013 hardback?
Viking, London, in 2013, in hardback.
What decides the price
  • It is the first UK edition; the true first was published elsewhere.
  • The original dust jacket carries much of the price for a book of this age; its condition matters as much as the book's.
  • Condition is graded separately for book and jacket, from Fine down to Poor.

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Identification

How to identify this edition

First published in London in 2013 by Viking, a Penguin imprint, as an illustrated hardback, ISBN 9780670920549 (ISBN-10 0670920541). The Penguin paperback followed on 6 March 2014 (ISBN 9780241955185). The book won the 2014 Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books, so a cover or sticker mentioning the prize marks a later copy. The American edition came from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (hardback ISBN 9780544236042, then a Mariner paperback in 2015) and is not the UK first. Look for the Viking imprint on the title page and the earliest impression on the copyright page.

Publisher's practice

How Viking marked its first editions

  • Viking first printings carry no printing statement beyond the publication line, while later printings are recorded on the copyright page with their number or date, so any reprint note means a later printing.
  • From the late 1930s onwards first printings typically read "First published in [year] by The Viking Press" (later "by Viking Penguin Inc.") or "Published in [year] by The Viking Press" on the copyright page; Viking's Stephen King firsts of 1979 to 1987 follow this pattern.

Read the full guide to Viking 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.

Printing by printing

Printings and states

First impression

2013

At a glance

Not yet researched

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.

Know the points? Tell us. We publish them, with credit, once a second source agrees.

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Questions collectors ask

Frequently asked questions

Who published the Stuff Matters 2013 hardback?

Viking, London, in 2013, in hardback.

Sources

Where these facts come from

Points of issue are listed only where at least two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 20 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.

Related

Other editions of this book

Stuff MattersPenguin Books, 2013
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