THE BATTLE OF THE SWASH AND THE CAPTURE OF CANADA. New York: Charles T. Dillingham, [1888]. Octavo, pp. [i-v] vi-vii [viii] 9-131 [132: blank], original blue wrappers printed in black. First edition. One of the earliest American novels to use the future war motif. Great Britain declares war on the United States in 1890. "Barton made it one of his aims to demonstrate the maritime weakness of his country: British warships patrol the Atlantic seaboard, causing immense havoc, devastating New York and destroying that sacred icon of Yankee enterprise, the Brooklyn Bridge. The story was intended to demonstrate the need for a satisfactory naval policy; it was a condemnation of the failure 'to adopt defensive precautions, or to encourage the reconstruction of the American Merchant Marine.'" - Clarke, Voices Prophesying War: Future Wars 1763-3749 (1992), p. 43. Anatomy of Wonder (1976) 2-9 and (1981) 1-15. Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 135. Clareson, The Emergence of American Science Fiction: 1880-1915, pp. 261-62. Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 048. Clute and Nicholls (eds), The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, p. 95. Franklin, War Stars: The Superweapon and the American Imagination, pp. 24-6. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 29. Bleiler (1978), p. 17. Reginald 00926. Wright (III) 367. Text block (cheap pulp paper stock) just a bit tanned, small library duplicate stamp on front wrapper, a fine copy. (#109991).
Price: $150.00
No statement of printing.