THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE; OR, THE WITCH'S CAVERN ... Second Thousand. London: Trischler & Company, 1890. Octavo, pp. [1-7] 8 [9] 10-291 [292: blank] + 8-page undated publisher's catalogue inserted at rear, original bevel-edged blue cloth, front and spine panels stamped in gold, white endpapers with floral pattern printed in brown. First edition. To date, no copies of the UK edition, other than those with "second thousand" printed on the title page, have been located. Of two known binding states, this copy has the title set on six lines on the front cover. "... a surprisingly adventurous and invention-filled speculation set in the far future." - Clute and Nicholls (eds), The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (1993), p. 777. "Science fiction novel in which a student of a scientifically advanced Australia of 2990 undertakes an expedition to barbaric England and, while there, finds himself transported back to a time when England was still a going concern." - Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 18 (recording a copy marked "second thousand;" see his note). Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 967. Clarke, Tale of the Future (1978), p. 15. Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, p. 88. Suvin, Victorian Science Fiction in the UK, p. 42. Bleiler (1978), p. 89. Reginald 14917. Not in Larnach or Blackford, et al. Some spotting to cloth, mostly along rear outer joint, spine ends and lower corner tips rubbed, a very good copy. A remarkably nice copy of a very scarce book. (#170154).
Price: $2,500.00
"SECOND THOUSAND" on title page.