AFTER LONDON; OR, WILD ENGLAND. London, Paris, New York & Melbourne: Cassell & Company, Limited, 1885. Octavo, pp. [i-v] vi-vii [viii] [1] 2-442 [443-444: ads] + 8-page publisher's catalogue dated "3.85" inserted at rear, original bevel-edged ochre cloth, front panel stamped in black, spine panel stamped in gold, rear panel ruled in blind, top edge untrimmed, other edges rough-trimmed, purple floral patterned endpapers. First edition. According to Miller and Matthews, only about 1000 copies were printed, and some were for the American market. This copy has the earliest inserted publisher's catalogue (dated March 1885). This unjustly neglected novel by a popular late nineteenth century English naturalist combines Jefferies' remarkable power of observation and his application of these observations into a philosophy based loosely on the Darwinian theory of evolution. Brian Aldiss (in Trillion Year Spree) observed that AFTER LONDON gave "memorable expression" to "the theme of nature reasserting its dominance," a theme which has achieved greatest popularity in our century. "AFTER LONDON stands with the works of Hudson and William Morris in rejecting modern, scientific times long before any disillusionment caused by the First World War set in." - Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 450. "AFTER LONDON is a first-class example of Victorian sf and proved very popular at the time; its influence can be traced through W. H. Hudson's A CRYSTAL AGE (1887) to John Collier's TOM'S A-COLD (1933) ..." - Clute and Nicholls (eds), The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (1993), p. 642. "Unequal, but still a minor masterpiece." - Suvin, Victorian Science Fiction in the UK, p. 27. "... a remarkable book that deserves reading." - Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 1184. Anatomy of Wonder (1981) 1-108; (1987) 1-53; (1995) 1-53; and (2004) II-567. Bailey, Pilgrims Through Space and Time, pp. 76-77. Clarke, Tale of the Future (1978), p. 11. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 122. Negley, Utopian Literature: A Bibliography 617. Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, p. 73. Bleiler (1978), p. 109. Reginald 07867. Sadleir 1302. Wolff 3612. Miller and Matthews B22.1a. Light wear to cloth at head and tail of spine panel, small hairline crack in inner front hinge neatly repaired, a tight, clean, very good copy. A bright, well above average copy of an uncommon book rarely found in nice condition. (#75572).
Price: $1,250.00
No statement of printing.