L. W. Currey, Inc.

Le Faure, G[eorges] and H[enry] de Graffigny. AVENTURES EXTRAORDINAIRES D'UN SAVANT RUSSE [LA LUNE]. Paris: Edinger Editeur, 1889. Large octavo, pp. [i-v] vi [vii] viii 1-490 [491-493] [494: blank] [495: printer's imprint] [496: blank], over 400 illustrations by Vallet, Henroit and others, original pictorial bevel-edged blue cloth, front, spine and rear panels stamped in red, gray and gold, all edges gilt, blue-gray coated endpapers. First edition. The first of four volumes published between 1889 and 1896 comprising this epic novel of interplanetary exploration. La Lune (1889) was followed by Le Soleil et les Petites Planetes (1889), Les Planetes Geantes et les Cometes (1891) and Le Desert Sideral (1896). "The story of a scientist who explores the universe while chasing his rival, who has stolen his ideas for a spaceship... The novel had a definite influence on the genre. After publication of this novel, there was no question of limiting oneself to the Moon as had been done for so long; astronauts began to explore Mars and Venus, although none dared to escape from the solar system." - Survey of Science Fiction Literature I, pp. 109-112. According to Versins, the importance of this work is still underestimated owning to the difficulty of finding the later volumes, with the fourth, issued by another publisher, virtually unobtainable. Versins, Encyclopédie de l'Utopie, des Voyages Extraordinaires et de la Science Fiction, pp. 521-22. Cloth worn at edges, mainly spine ends and corners, inner hinges cracked but still sound, text paper tanned at edges, preliminary leaves brittle at fore-edges and a bit frayed and chipped, frontispiece tissue guard detached, wrinkled and foxed, school prize label affixed to front paste-down, a sound reading copy. (#170279).

Price: $100.00