# Is "Imperial Earth" by Arthur C. Clarke a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Imperial Earth by Arthur C. Clarke (Victor Gollancz, London, 1975) 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. The Gollancz UK edition (1975) is the true first and precedes the US Harcourt Brace Jovanovich edition (1976).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- 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
- Publisher imprint reads Victor Gollancz, London
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Arthur C. Clarke |
| Publisher | Victor Gollancz, London |
| Year | 1975 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First UK Gollancz edition, 1975 (ISBN 0-575-02011-3), in the characteristic yellow Gollancz jacket with the price printed on the flap and… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## 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.

## 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.

## 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.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Imperial Earth* by Arthur C. Clarke a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/imperial-earth
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.