AROUND A DISTANT STAR. London: John Long, 1904. Octavo, pp. [1-6] 7-8 [9-12] 13-301 [302: printer's imprint] [303-304: ads] + 8-page publisher's catalogue dated "March, 1904" inserted at rear, seven inserted plates with illustrations by Alfred Touchemolin, original pictorial green cloth, front panel stamped in white, black and orange, spine panel stamped in gold, bottom edge untrimmed. First edition. Of several noted bindings, no priority established, this copy has the lettering on spine panel in gold and is most likely an earlier binding state. Noted with and without a publisher's catalogue inserted at rear, this copy has the catalogue. "A spacecraft fitted with a super-telescope flies to the planet Kallistos, around a star nearly 2000 light years distant, for the express purpose of witnessing the last days of Christ, duly revealed by the light which has only just reached that world from earth. The alien life forms encountered include carnivorous plants. Pure science fiction in spite of the religious motivation." - Locke, Voyages in Space 61. Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 559. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 67. Bleiler (1978), p. 58. Reginald 04022. Some staining to top quarter of front panel where a lending library label was removed, considerable foxing throughout text block, a good, tight copy which is externally bright and fairly attractive. (#75321).
Price: $250.00
No statement of printing.