Orphans of the Sky

The census claim is confirmed and is the correct call: Victor Gollancz (London) 1963 is the true first, preceding the US G. P. Putnam's Sons (New York) 1964 edition. Currey states the point explicitly — "Preceded the 1964 Putnam edition" — and James Cummins Bookseller catalogues the Gollancz as "First edition, preceding the American." This is one of the few Heinlein titles where the UK edition holds precedence, and the Putnam 1964 is collected in its own right as the first US edition. Neither book is the first appearance of the text: the novel is assembled from two 1941 Astounding Science Fiction serials, "Universe" and "Common Sense."