THE STRANGE MS. BY ---, M.D. Springfield, Illinois: H. W. Rokker, Printer and Binder, 1883. Octavo, pp. [1-3] 4-336 [337-338: blank], flyleaves at front and rear, two diagrams in the text, one being a full-page map of Mammoth Cave engraved by Poole Bros., Chicago, original decorated terra cotta cloth, front and spine panels stamped in black and gold, rear panel stamped in blind, white endpapers with floral pattern printed in brown. First edition. The first world catastrophe novel written by an American. The manuscript, written in 1881, is a prevision of what may come to pass in 1883-1884 when the Earth is struck by a comet. The polar ice caps have melted, the Earth has shifted, and most of the human race has perished. A few survivors in now arctic Kentucky flee into Canada to James Bay, where the climate is warm enough for a settlement. At this point, the narrative breaks off. "As a novel, amateurish, with period ethic humor about Blacks, but with some touches of imagination" (Bleiler). Bettersworth published one other novel, JOHN SMITH, DEMOCRAT: HIS TWO DAY'S CANVASS (SUNDAY INCLUDED) FOR THE OFFICE OF MAYOR OF THE CITY OF BUNKUMVILLE, also printed and bound by Rokker in 1877. Bleiler, Science Fiction: The Early Years 193. Bleiler (1978), p. 7. Not in Reginald (1978; 1992). Wright (III) 509. Private embossed library stamp of "WHH" to the front flyleaf. Early owner's name dated 1883 on the front flyleaf and some scattered marginalia in ink in the text. Cloth bubbled, more so to the rear panel, horizontal closed tear in pages 127/128 and 129/130 professionally mended, several gatherings a bit proud, but holding, a very good copy. The text of this book is printed on wood pulp paper which is delicate but still supple. No copies reported by OCLC. The only recorded copy is in the Library of Congress. A rare book. Enclosed in a custom quarter leather clamshell box with leather spine label. (#171993).
Price: $3,500.00
No statement of printing.