The Sands of Mars — Arthur C. Clarke

History & Provenance

Clarke's first novel, sent to the newsstand for a quarter. The Sands of Mars first appeared in 1951 from Sidgwick & Jackson in London; this is the first American paperback — Pocket Books #989, with the copyright page giving a Pocket Book edition of April 1954 off a first printing of February 1954, following the 1952 Gnome Press hardcover and the 1953 Science Fiction Book Club edition. The cover painting is by Robert Schulz, a fixture of mid-century paperback racks. It is the sort of honest reading copy a book like this earns over seventy years: a vertical crease runs the front cover, the top-right corner has taken some loss, and the pages have tanned to amber — but it is complete, the binding holds, and Clarke's Mars still reads as well as it did for a quarter. Sold as found.

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