# Is "Dolphin Island" by Arthur C. Clarke a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Dolphin Island by Arthur C. Clarke (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1963) is identified by: US Holt, Rinehart and Winston first edition, 1963, full title 'Dolphin Island: A Story of the People of the Sea,' a juvenile science-fiction novel of roughly 186 pages. US Holt edition, 1963; a UK Gollancz edition also appeared in 1963, so this is identified as the US first rather than an established world first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- US Holt, Rinehart and Winston first edition, 1963, full title 'Dolphin Island: A Story of the People of the Sea,' a juvenile science-fiction novel of roughly 186 pages
- First-issue dust jacket carries the pictorial art of Alex Schomburg and should retain its printed jacket price
- Note that Holt also issued a reinforced library edition in bright green decorative cloth-over-boards without a dust jacket; that library binding is a separate format from the trade first in jacket
- Publisher imprint reads Holt, Rinehart and Winston
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Arthur C. Clarke |
| Publisher | Holt, Rinehart and Winston |
| Year | 1963 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | US Holt, Rinehart and Winston first edition, 1963, full title 'Dolphin Island: A Story of the People of the Sea,' a juvenile… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
US Holt, Rinehart and Winston first edition, 1963, full title 'Dolphin Island: A Story of the People of the Sea,' a juvenile science-fiction novel of roughly 186 pages. First-issue dust jacket carries the pictorial art of Alex Schomburg and should retain its printed jacket price. Note that Holt also issued a reinforced library edition in bright green decorative cloth-over-boards without a dust jacket; that library binding is a separate format from the trade first in jacket.

## Is this the true first?
US Holt edition, 1963; a UK Gollancz edition also appeared in 1963, so this is identified as the US first rather than an established world first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Book club edition: typically a blind-stamped device on the rear board and a jacket without a printed price.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Dolphin Island* by Arthur C. Clarke a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/dolphin-island
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.