The Martian

By Andy Weir

First UK edition, first impression, one of 1,000 copies signed and numbered by the author, this copy number 398: London: Del Rey, 2014.

Original red cloth, the spine lettered in gilt, yellow endpapers. Dust jacket by Head Design, unclipped and priced £9.99.

A near fine copy: the binding square and tight, the cloth clean and the gilt bright, the contents clean and unmarked. Some faint spots to the bottom edge and fore-edge of the text block.

The original and unclipped dust jacket near fine, bright and unfaded, with light wear to the spine tips and a crease to the bottom edge of the upper panel.

Weir's first novel, written a chapter at a time and posted free on his own website, then issued as a Kindle edition at ninety-nine cents — the lowest price Amazon permitted — which sold thirty-five thousand copies in three months, more than had been taken when it was free. He sold the print rights to Crown in March 2013; Crown published in New York on 11 February 2014 and Del Rey in London the same year. Ridley Scott's film followed in 2015 with Matt Damon as Mark Watney, winning the Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy, and Best Actor, and taking seven Academy Award nominations including Best Picture without a win. Weir received the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2016.