DEVIL-MAN FROM MARS. London: Herbert Jenkins Limited, [1935]. Octavo, pp. [i-iv] v [vi-viii] 9-312 [313-320: ads], original orange cloth, front and spine panels stamped in black, publisher's device stamped in black on rear panel. First edition. Antiwar SF thriller heavily influenced by the works of H. G. Wells. Mars is a peaceful utopian world state and the humanoid Martians are seven-foot tall advanced super-beings who live in the nude in harmony with nature. The story includes Corbett's usual pseudo-science, including mind control, a "Propulsive Ray," and a "Death Ray," the latter to be used on Earth to enforce world peace (the novel is set in the near future and there has been a new war in Eastern Europe). Like all Corbett novels the plot is ridiculous and the writing is awful, but it is obvious he intended that his message of establishing world peace be taken seriously. Clarke, Tale of the Future (1978), p. 67. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 58. Bleiler (1978), p. 49. Reginald 03416. Early owner's name on front free endpaper. Cover edges faded, page edges tanned, but still a fine copy in a very good four-color 7/6 pictorial dust jacket with light wear at edges, mainly spine ends and corner tips, several internal tape reinforcements to same, and some general rubbing and dust soiling. (#158290).
Price: $1,500.00
"First printing 1935" on copyright page.