Is My Red Planet: A Colonial Boy on Mars a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition, first printing: Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1949
• The full title on the title page is "Red Planet: A Colonial Boy on Mars" — the census records the short form
• Identified by the Scribner house formula: a capital "A" on the copyright page together with the Scribner's seal
• Both must be present; the absence of the "A", the absence of the seal, or the presence of any added printing designation denotes a later printing
• Bound in black cloth stamped in red
• Illustrated by Clifford Geary

How Charles Scribner's Sons marked a first edition

• The famous capital 'A' on the copyright page denotes a first printing. Introduced late 1929 and used 1930-1973.

Full Charles Scribner's Sons first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. 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.
4. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. 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.
6. 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?

US original; Scribner's New York 1949 is the true first — the census claim is confirmed. The first British edition is Gollancz (London) 1963, 211 pages, red cloth lettered in gilt on the spine, jacket art by Alan Breese; this is confirmed as the first UK edition by James Cummins Bookseller and Fantastic Literature, and is a later, secondary edition. Both are collected; the Scribner carries precedence. FIRST-THUS TRAP: Scribner's editor Alice Dalgleish required substantial cuts before publication — chiefly to gun ownership and licensing, slang and mild expletives, references to clothing and bodily functions, the protagonist's characterization, and passages critical of authority. Del Rey published the restored, uncut text in January 1990. That 1990 Del Rey is the first appearance of Heinlein's original text but is emphatically not the first edition of the book; catalogues that call it a "first" are describing a first thus.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Scribner book-club printings are the standard trap for this title. The reliable tells: the copyright page lacks the "A" and Scribner seal combination (collectors also report book-club copies that retain an "A" while omitting the seal and adding printer information at the foot of the copyright page, so the seal — not the letter alone — is the safer check); a blindstamped device (dot, circle, square or similar) is usually impressed into the rear board near the spine; the boards are bulkier and the paper cheaper; and the jacket lacks the flap price. Later Scribner trade printings drop the "A" entirely.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Red Planet: A Colonial Boy on Mars a first edition?

A first edition of Red Planet: A Colonial Boy on Mars by Robert A. Heinlein (Charles Scribner's Sons) is identified by: First edition, first printing: Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1949.

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. US original; Scribner's New York 1949 is the true first — the census claim is confirmed.

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

Scribner book-club printings are the standard trap for this title. The reliable tells: the copyright page lacks the "A" and Scribner seal combination (collectors also report book-club copies that retain an "A" while omitting the seal and adding printer information at the foot of the copyright page, so the seal — not the letter alone — is the safer check); a blindstamped device (dot, circle, square or similar) is usually impressed into the rear board near the spine; the boards are bulkier and the

I have a first edition of Red Planet: A Colonial Boy on Mars — 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.