AUF ZWEI PLANETEN. ROMAN. [Frankfurt am Main]: Zweitausendeins, [1979]. Octavo, two volumes in one, illustrations, cloth-backed marbled boards. First printing of this edition. A mammoth and highly imaginative novel first published in 1897. Earth is conquered by the Martians who establish a protectorate thereby bringing reason and utopia to the planet. "In the mainstream, the undisputed pioneer of German SF was Kurd Lasswitz (1848-1910). His AUF ZWEI PLANETEN (1897) is a classic of interplanetary fiction, remarkable not only for its striking anticipations of space travel, including space stations, but also for its attempt to give philosophical depth to a struggle between a technologically advanced humanoid Mars and an Earth fighting for independence and autonomy. The novel is not wholly successful -- Lasswitz was too didactic -- but is nevertheless a praiseworthy effort." - Rottensteiner, "German SF" in Anatomy of Wonder (1987), p. 383. AUF ZWEI PLANETEN "was neither his first book nor his only work of fiction, but it was the one that made him famous. It has been a permanent part of German literature since its first appearance in 1987. The Nazis banned it as 'democratic,' but it was reissued in 1948 [i.e. 1949] in celebration of the hundredth anniversary of Lasswitz' birth." - Ley, Rockets, Missiles, and Space Travel (1951), pp. 45-8. All post-World-War-II German-language editions, except this one, and the only English-language edition were abridged. This 1102-page Zweitausendeins edition edited by Rudi Schweikert prints the entire text and includes nearly two hundred pages of critical material, including notes, essays, chronology and bibliography. Lexikon 1, pp. 164-6. Bloch (2002) 1864. A fine copy without dust jacket as issued. This edition is now hard to find. (#133185).
Price: $225.00
"1. Auflage, Dezember 1979" on copyright page.