Is My Imperial Earth a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First UK Gollancz edition, 1975 (ISBN 0-575-02011-3), in the characteristic yellow Gollancz jacket with the price printed on the flap and no later-printing notice
• This UK text carries the subtitle 'A Fantasy of Love and Discord' and comprises 38 chapters — a distinct textual state from the later US edition

How Victor Gollancz, London marked a first edition

• Pre-1984: NO first-edition statement was made — first printings carry no 'First published' line; ONLY later printings were noted (so absence of any printing statement = likely first, presence of a reprint note = later)
• For pre-1984 titles, confirm via dust-jacket points, dated jackets, and absence of reprint notation rather than a positive statement

Full Victor Gollancz, London first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
3. Verify this is the UK true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
5. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

The Gollancz UK edition (1975) is the true first and precedes the US Harcourt Brace Jovanovich edition (1976). The US edition is not merely a reset reprint: Clarke enlarged it to 43 chapters, dropped the subtitle, and added an epigraph from Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, so the UK first is also the earliest form of the text.P-002327

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The US Science Fiction Book Club edition shows the rear-board blind-stamp and an unpriced 'Book Club Edition' jacket, with thinner boards distinguishing it from the trade first. Note also that any US copy with 43 chapters or the Hemingway epigraph is the later, enlarged American text rather than the 1975 UK first.P-002328

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Imperial Earth a first edition?

A first edition of Imperial Earth by Arthur C. Clarke (Victor Gollancz, London) is identified by: First UK Gollancz edition, 1975 (ISBN 0-575-02011-3), in the characteristic yellow Gollancz jacket with the price printed on the flap and no later-printing notice.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. The Gollancz UK edition (1975) is the true first and precedes the US Harcourt Brace Jovanovich edition (1976).

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

The US Science Fiction Book Club edition shows the rear-board blind-stamp and an unpriced 'Book Club Edition' jacket, with thinner boards distinguishing it from the trade first. Note also that any US copy with 43 chapters or the Hemingway epigraph is the later, enlarged American text rather than the 1975 UK first.

I have a first edition of Imperial Earth — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.