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A & C Black is to launch an investigation into how more than 800 copies of the latest Wisden's Cricketers Almanac were sold before its official release.
The book was due to go on sale on Monday (6th April). However, according to figures from Nielsen BookScan, 816 copies were sold in the week to 4th April, with sales worth £23,785.
Rosanna Bortoli, head of publicity and marketing at A & C Black, said: "We were unaware that the books had been sold. It came as a complete surprise. We are very unhappy about this and will certainly take it up and look into why this happened."
It is understood that this is the first time an embargo has been significantly broken in more than two years. In April 2007, more than 1,800 copies of J R R Tolkein's The Children of Hurin (HarperCollins) were sold before its release date.
The Booksellers Association and Publishers Association launched a code of practice on embargo dates in August 2007. It is not contractually binding but if a bookshop was found to be consistently breaking the code, publishers could supply future titles late or seek an injunction.