# Is "The Sands of Mars" by Arthur C. Clarke a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Sands of Mars by Arthur C. Clarke (Sidgwick and Jackson, 1951) is identified by: UK Sidgwick and Jackson first edition, octavo, bound in red cloth (over boards) with black spine lettering and issued in a priced pictorial dust jacket, the price present on the front flap. The UK Sidgwick and Jackson edition (1951) is the true first, preceding the US Gnome Press edition (1952) by about a year.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- UK Sidgwick and Jackson first edition, octavo, bound in red cloth (over boards) with black spine lettering and issued in a priced pictorial dust jacket, the price present on the front flap
- Collates [4] 219 [1] pages and includes a map of Clarke's Mars as a frontispiece
- Clarke's first published novel in hardcover
- Publisher imprint reads Sidgwick and Jackson
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Arthur C. Clarke |
| Publisher | Sidgwick and Jackson |
| Year | 1951 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | UK Sidgwick and Jackson first edition, octavo, bound in red cloth (over boards) with black spine lettering and issued in a priced pictorial… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
UK Sidgwick and Jackson first edition, octavo, bound in red cloth (over boards) with black spine lettering and issued in a priced pictorial dust jacket, the price present on the front flap. Collates [4] 219 [1] pages and includes a map of Clarke's Mars as a frontispiece. Clarke's first published novel in hardcover.

## Is this the true first?
The UK Sidgwick and Jackson edition (1951) is the true first, preceding the US Gnome Press edition (1952) by about a year.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No early book club edition. Later reprints lack the Sidgwick and Jackson 1951 imprint and the original priced jacket.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Sands of Mars* by Arthur C. Clarke a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-sands-of-mars
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.