Testaments (Special Edition)

A special limited edition of Margaret Atwood’s book Testaments. 

Update December 2022
A private donor has purchased a copy of the special edition and is donating it to the Archives and Special Collections of the William H. Hannon Library, at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

Update November 2021
A private collector purchased 10 copies.

Update October 2020
Only 300 copies of this special limited edition were printed and no more will be produced once they are sold. Twenty copies have been distributed to the friends and family of Margaret Atwood. Twenty copies were sold in 2019 at an introductory price of $ 1,500. Nine copies have been sold as of October 1st this year at $ 2,500 and there are still 11 copies left at that price until the end of the year. An additional 10 copies have been reserved for university and National Libraries.

The price will increase to a minimum of $ 4,000 dollars or higher moving forward in 2021 and the 230 to be released over the next 2-5 years to endow the important work of Pelee Island Bird Observatory.

Pelee Island Bird Observatory would like to thank the British Library and Library and Archives Canada for their generous support in the placement of copies within their collections.

Update March 2020
Pelee Island Bird Observatory would like to thank the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto for its generous support and placement of a copy in its collection. All the copies of the special edition at the introductory price have now been sold. However, we still have 30 copies available at $2500 Canadian each. The remainder of the 230 copies will be sold at a higher price over the next 3 years which will be announced once the current 30 copies are sold.  Read about the Special Edition in a blog post for Fine Books Magazine written by Editor Rebecca Rego Barry dated January 30, 2020. On March 11 Margret Atwood was interviewed by Tom Clark of The Take (Global Public Affairs) where she describes the special edition. Listen here (19-minute mark)

Media Advisory December 2019
Re: Pelee Island Bird Observatory to sell limited edition book Testaments by Margaret Atwood.

Pelee Island Bird Observatory, a charitable NGO that researches and promotes the conservation of birds, has been gifted the exclusive right to market and sell this special limited edition of The Testament by Margaret Atwood.

All of the proceeds will be used to support PIBO’s work to better understand and protect birds. Ms. Atwood is the Honorary Chairperson of PIBO.

Margaret Atwood’s new book Testaments, the sequel to her 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale, was published on September 10, 2019. Breaking Canadian sales records, Testaments is set 15 years after the events of The Handmaid’s Tale. On October 15 the new novel shared the prestigious Booker Prize for Fiction.

Now fans will have an additional opportunity to purchase a rare special limited edition copy of the book. This edition, published by McLelland & Stewart, the imprint of Penguin Random House Canada, will only be available through Pelee Island Bird Observatory.

Only 300 copies of this collector’s item were produced, and Ms. Atwood has signed each one of these copies of this single print run.

The book is a very special edition with a slipcover and special endpapers. Inside each book is an envelope with a wax seal that contains artifacts from the text. These are only available in this special edition.

“I am so happy to have been able to work on this very, very special, very, very limited edition of The Testaments in aid of PIBO, with the invaluable help of McClelland and Stewart, my publishers. The designer, Kelly Hill, has done a spectacular job, and Jared Bland, the Publisher, entered into the full spirit of Gilead with alarming alacrity. Leaked documents from inside Gilead can be yours, plus bird protection! A total package!” – Margaret Atwood

“It’s been a true pleasure for all of us here at McClelland & Stewart to work with Margaret on this very special edition of The Testaments. Her unbridled creativity and playful wit are all on full display in this spectacular and singular publication, one that will delight readers and collectors around the world.”- Jared Bland, Publisher, McClelland & Stewart

“We are thrilled to have this unique opportunity to serve as a major fundraiser for PIBO. Margaret and McClelland & Stewart have created a beautiful collectors edition, and I’m sure fans will be happy to know that the funds raised from the sales will go toward the conservation of birds.”- Suzanne Friemann, Executive Director, Pelee Island Bird Observatory

For more information on PIBO and/or this special limited edition, please contact: