Ralph 124C 41+ A Romance of the year 2660
Frank R. Paul. Boston, Massachusetts: The Stratford Company, Publishers 1925. First Edition. [1], [1-blank], [8], 9-293, [1-blank] pages. Plus 11 black and white plates (one as frontis). 8vo. (5 1/4 x 7 3/4 inches). Publisher's original blue cloth. Spine and front panel titles stamped in gilt. One corner tip bumped, just a touch of wear elsewhere to the binding. As nice an example as we've seen. Color pictorial dust jacket with edge wear including some creasing and small tears. Dust jacket soiled mostly rear panel and fore-edges. Shallow scratch on front dj panel touched up by a previous owner. Some ink offsetting(front printing?) to the inside of the dust jacket. Also a streak of reddish ink (?) that could have been the start of dampstaining though we see no evidence of this elsewhere. The book presents very nicely, with Frank Paul illustration still vibrant. Locke variant B (no priority) with spine title 20mm wide but with textblock bulking 29mm. Near Fine / Very Good. Cloth. [27537]
"First published as a serial in Modern Electrics (1911), this story serves as the classic expression of American infatuation with the machine ; it is a virtual catalog of descriptions of advanced machines. Its protagonist is a state hero, who literally resurrects his sweetheart from the dead after an accident. Unique for the period, the 'other man' is a Martian" (Anatomy of Wonder, Emergence of Science Fiction)
Locke adds: "Although mediocre from a literary point of view, the novel is an important milestone in the development of modern American pulp magazine science fiction, as Gernsback was to make use of its 'sugar-coated science' philosophy in his pioneering science fiction magazines."
Bleiler, Checklist of Science Fiction Supernatural Fiction (Firebell: 1979), p. 81 ; Anatomy of Wonder/4:1-37 ; Locke, Spectrum of Fantasy,( Ferret: 1980) p 90. and others.
ITEM SOLD