”The True First Edition”
Batch Numbers, Stickered Editions and More.
Due to the Paolinis sporadically ordering around 10000 books in batches of 50 to 100, we have a way of knowing early, middle and late printings of Self-Published Eragons. Lightning Source Inc (LSI) batch numbers are used on all their books in this time period. Batch 3299 is Eragon, batch 3300 could be a user manual for a Ford F150. The batch number is located on the last page and reads,
“Printed in the United States”
[Batch Number]
Early batch numbers are four digits, LSI changed their numbering system sometime in 2002, and later batch numbers are nine digits followed by a B.
The current theory is that B stands for Batch and that Lightning Source had a maximum number of books they’d print in a run, so if you ordered 250 books, they might have been printed in lots of 50, the first would have looked like "[XXXXXXXX1B] and the last [XXXXXXXX5B]. We have asked LSI for info, but they have not been helpful.
Known Batch Numbers
The Arceana Discord search has crowd-sourced multiple batch numbers. Here is the current list of batch numbers. If you have a Self-Published Edition with a batch number not listed here, please let us know here
V00
We dont know any.
V01 & V02
3299, 3582, 3619, 3623
V03 & V04
4082, 4110, 4145, 4163, 4362, 4513, 4998, 5038, 5053, 5091, 5201, 5265, 5439, 5611, 5761, 5839, 5846, 5888, 5962, 6019, 6110, 6148, 6167, 6361, 6368, 6657, 6714, 6842, 6898, 706800002B, 713800001B, 71150002B, 711700001B, 712700001B, 721400001B, 722900001B, 724600001B, 730600002B, 733900001B, 740900003B, 750300001B, 763100001B, 763100006B, 768400001B, 776000001B, 783200001B, 785400001B, 788400001B, 788900001B, 793900001B, 798100001B, 798500001B, 800400001B, 867400004B, 878100002B, 878100005B, 934500001B, 941500001B, 990800001B
Note: We currently have no way to differentiate between V01 & V02, and between V03 & V04.
Donated Sticker
“The books with the donated sticker were from a batch of books that had quality control problems. We got permission from Lightning Source to donate the books instead of trashing or burning them. We did not sell them; we were able to donate them. They were given away for free. Kids who couldn’t otherwise get a book, did get a book.” - Kenneth Paolini
“As I recall, those were less-than-perfect copies that weren’t eligible for refund from the printer. We didn’t feel comfortable selling them, so we donated ‘em.” - Christopher Paolini
Only 4 have come up for sale in the last ~15 years. They have their covers removed and makeshift ones added. One is from batch 4998 and two from 750300001B.
2001 Eragon? 2003 Eragon?
V00 versions of the Self-Published Edition are from 2001, being first printed in November 2001. Kenneth Paolini estimates that around 20 of these still exist. The Self-Published Edition (V04) stopped being published on February 14, 2003, so many 2003 editions will exist; figuring out what batch numbers they are will be difficult due to there being no records.
“However, I seem to recall we did print some early copies of Eragon late 2001, which we later had to burn as the printer cut them wrong. Actually, I KNOW we did, because The Fellowship of the Ring came out that year, and I remember being shocked by how similar Eragon/Aragorn sounded. Lol. Also, in those very, very early versions, the Urgals were Orcs, so there's that.” - Christopher Paolini
