Prelude to Mars

Overview:

  • Title: Prelude to Mars
  • Author: Arthur C. Clarke
  • Year: 1965
  • Publisher: Harcourt, Brace & World / SFBC
  • Price: $1.90
  • Pages: x+497
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • Type: Omnibus
  • Title Reference: Prelude to Space
  • Notes:
    • The title page includes what may be interpreted as a blurb about the book or a subtitle: Prelude to Mars An Omnibus containing the complete novels PRELUDE TO SPACE and THE SANDS OF MARS and sixteen short stories
    • The copyright includes "© 1965 by Arthur C. Clarke" though it's not clear what new material is included in this collection. It may be for the Foreword which is dated December 1964.
    • The publication date and printing number are not stated. Gutter code '27G' on page 497 indicates a July 1965 printing date.
    • There is no price, ISBN, catalog number, nor SFBC number. "BOOK CLUB EDITION" on the bottom of the front flap.
    • The source for the $1.90 price used with this ISFDB publication record is unknown. It's higher than SFBC's price in 1974 but that may reflect that at the time this was a new book with the retail edition published a couple of months earlier at $4.95. Later SFBC printings had the ID #2469 printed on the back flap and were priced $1.69 (as of the SFBC announcement flyer for June 1974 and probably as early as September 1970 based on the ID number.)
    • The table of Contents divides the publication into four parts:
      • Part I - Prelude to Space
      • Part II - On the Light Side (has the first eight short stories)
      • Part III - On the Serious Side (has the remaining eight short stories)
      • Part IV - The Sands of Mars
    • The Foreword on pages 3 to 6 is about Prelude to Space only, not for the omnibus. It ends with "New York, December 1964"
    • "Jacket design by Lawrence Ratzkin" on rear flap. The photographer or artist of the cover image is not credited.
    • Prior to the 2017-08-22 verification this record had the note "Gutter code '24S' on page 497 indicates a June 1976 printing date." The note is puzzling because by 1976 the SFBC was using catalog numbers meaning this note likely belongs with another of the ISBN publication records.