(#137078) A. D. 2000. Lieut. Alvarado Fuller.

A. D. 2000. Chicago: Laird & Lee Publishers, 1890. Octavo, pp. [1-8] 9-415 [416: ad] [note: first leaf is a half title leaf], fifteen inserted plates with illustrations by W. Bretsnyder, original decorated navy blue bevel-edged cloth, front and spine panels stamped in gold, headbands, no flyleaves, brown coated endpapers. First edition. Published in paper wrappers as Laird & Lee's "Library of Choice Fiction," number 8 at 50¢, and in cloth (as here) at $1. There were two hardbound issues (printings?) of this book (priority unknown) with title pages dated 1890 (later reprints have no dates printed on the title page), one variant with page [416] blank and no half title leaf, the other with an advertisement for Gautier's Mademoiselle de Maupin on page [416] and a half title leaf; this being the variant with the half title leaf and with the advertisement on page [416]. An interesting novel, with many elements of super science, set in the United States of 2000 A. D. The technological climax of the book is the conquest of the North Pole. Many parallels to Bellamy's LOOKING BACKWARD, but particularly sketchy with regard to economics. In his preface Fuller comments that "lest originality of title and theme be denied, it is but justice to myself to state that both were assumed in November, 1887." For a lengthy discussion of this novel see Ben Fuson, "Three Kansas Utopian Novels of 1890," Extrapolation, 12 (December 1970), 7-24. Also see Clareson, The Emergence of American Science Fiction: 1880-1915, pp. 290-92 who notes that this book "introduces [the natural disaster motif] into American science fiction ..." Anatomy of Wonder (1976) 2-78 and (1981) 1-76. Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 821. Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 315. Lewis, Utopian Literature, p. 68. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 87. Negley, Utopian Literature: A Bibliography 398. Roemer, The Obsolete Necessity, pp. 188-89. Rooney, Dreams and Visions: A Study of American Utopias, 1865-1917, p. 188. Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, pp. 84-5. Bleiler (1978), p. 78. Reginald 05684. Hairline cracks along inner front hinge, partial hairline cracks along inner rear hinge, both hinges still holding tight, faint book store stamp to front free endpaper, mild rubbing to spine ends and corner tips, lettering on spine panel dull, a nearly fine copy. A superior copy of this book. (#137078).

Price: $1,000.00

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