L. W. Currey, Inc.

Fraser, Joseph. MELBOURNE AND MARS: MY MYSTERIOUS LIFE ON TWO PLANETS. EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARY OF A MELBOURNE MERCHANT. Edited by [i.e. Written by] Joseph Fraser. Melbourne: Pater & Knapton, Print, 290 1/2 Little Collins Street, MDCCCLXXXIX [1889]. Octavo, pp. [1-3] 4-104 [105-112: ads], modern boards. First edition, first printing. Among the rarest of the nineteenth-century interplanetary fictions. "The tale of a man who in middle age lives in Melbourne, but who also simultaneously lives a second life as a child on a utopian and scientifically advanced Mars, on which winged flying machines are in common, everyday use." - Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 86. "One of the most important Australian utopian novels ... Fraser saw technology as a key agent of social change, extolling the value of fast travel by flying machines and describing with awe the potential of electricity." - Blackford, et al., Strange Constellations: A History of Australian Science Fiction, pp. 26-27; 225. Howgego, Encyclopedia of Exploration: Invented and Apocryphal Narratives of Travel F 19. Larnach, Materials Towards a Checklist of Australian Fantasy to 1937 (1950), p. 12 (giving the author as "Frazer"). Locke, Voyages in Space (2011) V-286. Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, p. 81. Not in Bleiler (1948; 1978) or Reginald (1979; 1992). The Sam Moskowitz Collection copy. Rebound without the title leaf and one of the four leaves of advertisements following page 104. However, on the plus side, the original front wrapper of the first printing is affixed to the front board. A very elusive book which, when found, is usually in terrible condition. (#179074).

Price: $750.00