2 David Brin first editions are documented on this shelf, from Startide Rising (1983) to The Uplift War (1987) across 2 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that David Brin title from later printings and book-club copies — the publisher and year to expect, the number-line or edition-statement conventions, and the tells that show up in online listings.

Identification only, per the house rule: no prices and no appraisals here. Checking a David Brin copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.

Startide Rising — 1983 · Bantam Books, New YorkThe true first edition is the Bantam Spectra mass-market paperback original, May 1983, with the number line ending in 1 and 'Bantam edition / May 1983' on the copyright page. There was no preceding hardcover. Hugo and Nebula winner. The true first is the Bantam paperback original of May 1983. The Phantasia Press hardcover is a later first hardcover edition dated 1985 (not 1983); it presents a revised text and was issued in a run of 1,575 copies, of which 375 were numbered, slipcased, and signed on the limitation page. Verify its limitation page for the numbered state. Distinguish the paperback original true first (number line to 1, 'Bantam edition / May 1983') from later Bantam printings and from the separate 1985 Phantasia Press hardcover. There is no standard book club edition of the priority paperback.
The Uplift War — 1987 · Phantasia Press, West Bloomfield, MIFirst edition is the Phantasia Press hardcover, issued in two states: a signed/numbered limited edition of 475 copies (limitation leaf stating the copies were numbered and signed by the author, in a specially bound and boxed/slipcased edition) and a trade hardcover. Won the 1988 Hugo Award for Best Novel. The Bantam Spectra mass-market paperback is a later issue. The Phantasia Press hardcover is the true first. The signed/numbered limited state (475 copies, boxed) carries priority cachet over the trade hardcover; the Bantam Spectra paperback is the later mass-market issue. The Science Fiction Book Club edition is later, carries a gutter blindstamp on the rear board and an unpriced 'Book Club Edition' jacket, and lacks the Phantasia limitation leaf and imprint.

More Science Fiction shelves: Frank Herbert, Frederik Pohl, Greg Bear, Joe Haldeman, John Scalzi, Kim Stanley Robinson.

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