A PLUNGE INTO SPACE. London and New York: Frederick Warne and Co., 1890. Octavo, pp. [i-v] vi [7] 8-240 [241: ad] [242: blank] [243-250: ads] [note: first two leaves of signature [A] and last leaf of signature U are excised by the binder; the first and last of these blank leaves were used as paste-downs in the stiff paperbound issue], original pictorial terra cotta cloth, front and spine panels stamped in blue, black and gold, publisher's monogram stamped in blind on rear panel, white endpapers with floral pattern printed in brown. First edition. Journey to Mars via steel globe, "motivated by insulating it from Earth's gravity." - Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 61. Martian civilization is utopian but in decline. A historically important interplanetary novel bridging Verne and Wells. "Much sentimentality, but historically interesting, halfway position between Verne ... and Wells." - Suvin, Victorian Science Fiction in the UK, p. 41. Anatomy of Wonder (1976) 2-53; (1981) 1-50; and (2004) II-288. Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 505. Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 214. Lewis, Utopian Literature, p. 49. Locke, Voyages in Space (2011) V205. Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, p. 84. Bleiler (1978), p. 53. Reginald 03637. Topp IV, p. 213. Early owner's signature on title page. Mild wear to cloth at spine ends, mild rubbing along fore-edges, light stain to front cover professionally re-colored, another mild stain to rear cover also re-colored, top edge of text block dusty, a very good copy. A very attractive copy of a rare book; only a handful of copies of this hardbound issue of the first edition have been located. Enclosed in a custom quarter blue leather clamshell box with brown leather spine label. (#157029).
Price: $3,500.00
No statement of printing.