ISBN
International Standard Book Number
Every book that is published is issued with an ISBN, and every edition of every book is issued with a different ISBN which is specific to that book in that edition. So it is that a single title can have many different ISBN numbers, each of which refers to the specific edition, binding, publisher, price etc...
Most books have two ISBN numbers: one for the hardback and one for the paperback edition.
When you make your order, if you are able to give the ISBN number of the book that you require, you are then guaranteed the edition (paperback or hardback), price, date of edition etc. If you have correctly supplied the ISBN number from a book you have in hand, you will receive an exact copy of that book.
The ISBN number can normally be found at the front of the book after the title page where details about the book are to be found - copyright, edition, right of authorship, other editions etc. It is often today found on the back cover. On web-sites it is often supplied along with the other technical details of the edition.
All ISBN numbers are made up of 10 numbers (sometimes some numbers are hyphenated: these hypens can be disregarded). Sometimes the last number is the letter x.
There is also an EAN number which is made up of thirteen numbers (no letters). In February 2007 the EAN number system will take over from the ISBN.
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