(#139159) THE QUEEN OF THE WORLD OR UNDER THE TYRANNY. Luke Netterville, Standish James O'Grady.

THE QUEEN OF THE WORLD OR UNDER THE TYRANNY. London: Lawrence and Bullen, Ltd., 1900. Octavo, pp. [i-v] vi [vii] viii [1] 2-293 [294: printer's imprint] + 24-page publisher's catalogue dated "Spring Season, 1899" inserted at rear, original red cloth, front and spine panels stamped in gold, edges untrimmed. First edition. A science fiction novel in which the protagonist, Gerald Pierce de Lacy, is sent three hundred years into the future by occult means. The world of 2174 is an authoritarian dystopia ruled by the Chinese who possess weapons of mass destruction (including something that might be a disintegrating ray) and a huge fleet of flap-winged airships of great speed and power. The Chinese empire is attacked by rebel forces based in Antarctica, the hidden headquarters of their leader, England's King Arthur. The insurgents are soundly defeated and the king is killed in a battle fought with fantastic weapons. "Yet this nominal victory for the Chinese marks the beginning of the downfall of their empire, for the rest of the world rises in rebellion. The English fleet destroys the Chinese capital, and eventually the empire falls ... [Lenore, King Alfred's daughter becomes] Queen of England, or, as the book title has it, Queen of the World. De Lacy would be Lenore's consort, but he is snatched back to the nineteenth century ... A curious work. Similar to the work of George Griffith, but superior in many ways. It is hack work done by a good writer who has dashed off a thriller hastily without worrying about loose ends, inconsistencies, or clarity." - Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 1607. Clarke, Tale of the Future (1978), p. 26. Clarke, Voices Prophesying War: Future Wars 1763-3749, p. 231. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 165. Negley, Utopian Literature: A Bibliography 859. Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, pp. 122-23. Suvin, Victorian Science Fiction in the UK, p. 80. Bleiler (1978), p. 147. Reginald 10627. Offsetting to free endpapers with the upper right corner of the front free endpaper clipped, former owner's label pasted to front free endpaper (dated 1899), corners a little soft, spine a little faded, mild soiling to edges, a very good or somewhat better copy. A scarce book. (#139159).

Price: $850.00

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No statement of printing.