THE PARADISE OF THE NORTH: A STORY OF DISCOVERY AND ADVENTURE AROUND THE POLE. London and Edinburgh: W. & R. Chambers, Limited, n.d. [1893]. Octavo, pp. [1-7] 8-302 [303-304: blank] [note: last leaf is a blank] + undated 32-page catalogue of "Books Suitable for Prizes and Presentation" inserted at rear, fifteen full page illustrations by W. Boucher, plus several smaller uncredited illustrations in text, one map, original pictorial blue cloth, front and spine panels stamped in black, white, blue-gray and gold, white endpapers with floral pattern printed in purple. Second (first illustrated) edition. This book was issued with and without an inserted publisher's catalogue; this copy has the catalogue. The text of this edition is somewhat rearranged and is condensed by about 2000 words (see Locke for details). Lost race novel in which the descendants of a Norse expedition many centuries before are found in a volcano-warmed land near the North Pole. "A stodgy, very solid, information-packed, well-written Victorian boys' book." - Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 1197. Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 455. Clute and Nicholls (eds), The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, p. 646. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 124. Suvin, Victorian Science Fiction in the UK, p. 112. Bleiler (1978), p. 110. Reginald 07964. Prize label dated 1904 affixed to front paste-down, bookplate of collector William Harry Hopkins affixed to front free endpaper. Lower front corner tips lightly bruised, a bright, tight, very good copy. A nice copy of an attractive book. (#90581).
Price: $250.00
No statement of printing.