Search Results: Science Fiction & Fantasy from Sumner & Stillman

1895. A Study of Torpedo Warfare in 189-. Illustrated by the Author. London: Tower Publishing Company, 1895. 2 pp undated ads. Original grey-green cloth pictorially decorated in black and orange. First Edition of the first of Jane's scientific romances -- visions of future war, fought with future ships and aircraft. Not only is the book by Jane, but the action illustrations are too. Subsequent Jane titles, published over the following four years, included THE INCUBATED GIRL, TO VENUS IN FIVE SECONDS and THE VIOLET FLAME ("A Story of Armageddon and After"). Since his death in 1916, Jane has been best-known for the military annuals that bear his name today -- ALL THE WORLD'S FIGHTING SHIPS and ALL THE WORLD'S AIRCRAFT. This is a bright copy, fine except for a little ruffling at the spine ends. Currey p. 264; Bleiler Checklist p. 109.

1895. Illustrated. New York: The Merriam Company, n.d. [1895]. 3 pp undated ads. Original violet cloth decorated in dark violet. First Edition, issued as the second volume in Merriam's "Violet Series." This is Stevenson's famous tale about the anatomist "K---" and his need for cadavres (based undoubtedly upon the career of Robert Knox, 1793-1862); the 1945 film of the same title starred Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. RLS actually wrote this tale in mid-1881, to be part of a collection of supernatural tales which he referred to as "creepers"; he never completed the project, but a few of the tales remain. Ironically this grisly tale's first appearance was in the Pall Mall Gazette's 1884 Christmas Extra (substituted at the last moment for a briefer RLS tale, in order to fulfill a commitment of sufficient length). It is equally ironic that such a grisly story would first appear in book form in this cute little violet volume decorated with flowers. This is a near-fine copy, with minor cover soil but… Read More

1847. London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1847. 4+32+1 pp Vol I ads dated January 1847. Original drab boards with purple ribbed cloth spines and printed spine labels, title pages printed in black and red. First Edition of this supernatural tale about the goings-on in a haunted castle -- with the opening line (borrowing from a notorious 1830 Bulwer-Lytton novel) "It was an awfully dark and tempestuous night...". James (1800-1860) trained for medicine but became a prolific novelist after meeting Sir Walter Scott; James's 40 three-volume novels, most of them historical, exceeded the number written by Scott himself. In 1845 he and his family made a planned short visit to Germany so that he could do research for a novel, but two of the children's illness detained them there for a year, where he wrote two tales including this one. (In 1850 James and his family moved to Massachusetts; two years later, he was appointed British Consul in Norfolk, where over the next seven years his health suffered from the climate… Read More

1893. Yeats, Jack B.. With a Frontispiece by Jack B. Yeats. London: Lawrence and Bullen, 1893. 1 page preliminary undated ads. Original pea green cloth. First Edition of this very early work by Yeats (his fifth), a volume of Irish country tales often with supernatural aspects -- Yeats's "most creative attempt to render his folklore materials with precision" [Hirsch]; in a 1902 edition it would be substantially enlarged. On the spine of this copy, the publisher's name is in capital and lower-case letters, where on some copies it is printed all in capitals; it is not certain if either binding was precedent, but it is generally agreed that if either came earlier, it was the all-capitals binding. This is a near-fine copy, with very minor rubbing at the extremities and minor cracking of the endpapers. Wade 8.

1909. Illustrated. London: Grant Richards, (1909). Original dark blue cloth pictorially decorated in ochre, yellow and light blue. First British Edition, and first edition in English. This is a tale of a meteor's close brush with Earth, with the main events taking place in Virginia. The story had first appeared in a French daily journal in March-April 1908 -- three years after Verne's death. Despite the date 1909 on the title verso, this book was actually published in November 1908. Though sited in America, the book was not published in the United States. This is a handsome volume, with one of the 24 Roux plates reproduced upon the decorative front cover. This copy is nearly fine (front endpaper cracked, one tiny nick in the spine head, light foxing throughout on this thick wove paper). Taves & Michaluk V060; Myers 9.

1874. With Numerous Illustrations. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Low, & Searle, 1874. Original deep red pebble-grain cloth pictorially decorated in black and gilt, board edges beveled, all page edges gilt. First English Edition (and first fully-illustrated edition in the English language) of these four tales, three of which are among Verne's earliest: "A Drama in the Air" (appeared in a periodical in 1851, his second story), "Master Zacharius" (1854, his fourth), and "A Winter amid the Ice" (1855, his fifth). Also included (of course) is "Dr. Ox's Experiment" from 1872 -- plus "Ascent of Mont Blanc" by Jules's brother Paul Verne. "Dr. Ox's Experiment" is a great tale: Doctor Ox and his assistant Ygene come to the small quiet community of Quiquendone located in Flanders. He promises to light this town with a network of oxyhydric gas pipes. During the construction of this network, the quiet community becomes quite excitable, to the point where they are ready to go to war against a neighboring… Read More

1875. With Numerous Illustrations. Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1875. Original terra-cotta cloth pictorially decorated in black and gilt, beveled. First American fully-illustrated edition, from the sheets of the first British edition. These four tales include three that are among Jules Verne's earliest: "A Drama in the Air" (appeared in a periodical in 1851, his second story), "Master Zacharius" (1854, his fourth), and "A Winter amid the Ice" (1855, his fifth); "Dr. Ox's Experiment" itself did not appear until 1872. (Also included is "Ascent of Mont Blanc" by his brother Paul Verne.) Osgood had published the first edition in English in mid-1874, in a small unillustrated volume. William F. Gill of Boston published the first American (somewhat-) illustrated edition, dated 1874, under the title FROM THE CLOUDS TO THE MOUNTAINS. Then this copiously-illustrated Osgood edition came out in mid-1875, priced at a hefty $3.00. The front cover shows Master Zacharius raising the trap door in the floor… Read More

1897. New York: W.L. Allison Company, n.d. [1897]. Original tan cloth pictorially decorated in brown and white. First American Edition of this remarkable tale of "an enormous ship built by the Yanks, that has a great city on it, and is navigated about the world, playing ducks and drakes with geography and the balance of political power in the South Seas, until finally the savages of the New Hebrides and the forces of Nature rise up and annihilate it" [from a contemporary review cited in T&M]. L'ÎLE À HÉLICE ("Propeller Island") was first published in the original French in 1895; later that year Sampson Low of London announced it would soon be publishing it in English as SCREW ISLAND, but changed its title to THE FLOATING ISLAND when published in October of that year. Curiously, it would not be published in America for two more years, when Allison issued it, as here -- a volume in their "Fireside Series" (though not so identified). Apparently no other American editions came out until 1903. The… Read More

1878. Translated by Ellen E. Frewer. With Numerous Illustrations. New York: Scribner, Armstrong & Co., 1878. 2 pp undated ads. Original red cloth pictorially decorated in gilt and black, beveled. First complete American hardbound edition -- also the first authorized American edition. A collision with the errant comet "Gallia" rips out a section of the Earth that includes Gibraltar and the north coast of Algeria, carrying off various unintentional "colonists" (including French Captain Hector Servadac and his orderly Ben Zoof) into space on a two-year orbit of our solar system; they are forced to take refuge in a volcano to survive the cold stretch farthest from the sun. This tale was first published in America (and in the English language) by the pirate-publisher George Munro in his wrappered "Seaside Library" in September 1877. A month later the Philadelphia firm of Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger issued the first half of this tale in a pirated cloth-bound volume titled TO THE SUN?. Then in November… Read More

1901. New York: McClure, Phillips & Co., 1901. Original tan cloth pictorially decorated in black, orange and gilt. First Edition of the first collaboration between Conrad and Hueffer -- a tale that combines science fiction with political satire, somewhat in the same vein as had recently been popularized by H. G. Wells. This is regarded as Conrad's only science fiction tale -- though the work is largely Hueffer's. The "I" narrator is Etchingham Granger, a writer of impeccable pedigree whose fortunes are none too good and who is forced to take on several disagreeable commercial assignments. Early on, he meets an extremely attractive young lady who is a "Fourth Dimensionist." This tribe of "new people" -- there is a dystopian pattern here -- lacks feelings and normal or human responses. They, and she, are dedicated to becoming the inheritors of the earth because of their superiority in intellect, control and deception. In particular, they plan to undermine public confidence in its institutions, which… Read More

1901. London: William Heinemann, 1901. 32 pp undated ads. Original yellow cloth decorated in black. First English Edition, first issue, first binding state. The UK edition was issued a month after the American one, and consisted of 1,500 copies in two issues and three bindings. This was Conrad's only science fiction title, involving people from The Fourth Dimension -- though the work is largely Hueffer's. This copy is first issue, withOUT the dedication leaf ("To Borys & Christina"): according to Cagle "it would appear that the [dedication] leaf was inserted into only a few copies"; one would presume that these were likely the last copies to be bound up. This copy is in the primary binding (with the pictorial cover panel and with "W H" bracketing the windmill on the spine) -- and it is the first state of that first binding, i.e. with an ad catalogue and with the top edge trimmed, the other edges rough-trimmed. It is a very good-to-near-fine copy (minor soil and wear including a faint pattern on the… Read More

1901. London: William Heinemann, 1901. 32 pp undated ads. Original yellow cloth decorated in black. First English Edition, second issue, first binding state. This was Conrad's only science fiction title, involving people from The Fourth Dimension -- though the work is largely Hueffer's. The "I" narrator is Etchingham Granger, a writer of impeccable pedigree whose fortunes are none too good and who is forced to take on several disagreeable commercial assignments. Early on, he meets an extremely attractive young lady who is a "Fourth Dimensionist." This tribe of "new people" -- there is a dystopian pattern here -- lacks feelings and normal or human responses. They, and she, are dedicated to becoming the inheritors of the earth because of their superiority in intellect, control and deception. In particular, they plan to undermine public confidence in its institutions, which turns out to be fairly easy given the nature of the men who govern. The political satire lies here: everyone has a price and… Read More

1901. ["To Boys & Christina"] New York: McClure, Phillips & Co., 1901. Original tan cloth pictorially decorated in black, orange and gilt. First Edition, pre-publication state, of the first collaboration between Conrad and Hueffer -- a tale that combines science fiction with political satire, somewhat in the same vein as had recently been popularized by H.G. Wells. This is regarded as Conrad's only science fiction tale -- though the work is largely Hueffer's. The "I" narrator is Etchingham Granger, a writer of impeccable pedigree whose fortunes are none too good and who is forced to take on several disagreeable commercial assignments. Early on, he meets an extremely attractive young lady who is a "Fourth Dimensionist." This tribe of "new people" -- there is a dystopian pattern here -- lacks feelings and normal or human responses. They, and she, are dedicated to becoming the inheritors of the earth because of their superiority in intellect, control and deception. In particular, they plan to undermine… Read More

1893. Consisting of The Beach of Falesa / The Bottle Imp / The Isle of Voices. With Illustrations by Gordon Browne and W. Hatherell. London Paris & Melbourne: Cassell & Company, 1893. 16 pp ads dated Mar 1893. Original blue-grey cloth pictorially decorated in gilt. First English Edition, published five days after the American. "The Bottle Imp" is one of Stevenson's weirdest tales -- a supernatural blend of Aladdin's lamp, the monkey's paw, and a game of hot potato. As with most (if not all) copies, the book's price on the preliminary ad leaf was raised by hand. Some copies have ads dated as early as Sept 1892; however, since the book wasn't published until early April 1893, we would regard the ads in this copy as "primary." This is a bright, near-fine copy (light bubbling of the cloth near the top of each cover, front endpaper cracking). Beinecke 577; Princeton 53A, copies 2-3.

1893. Consisting of The Beach of Falesa / The Bottle Imp / The Isle of Voices. With Illustrations by Gordon Browne and W. Hatherell. London Paris & Melbourne: Cassell & Company, 1893. 16 pp ads dated Mar 1893. Original blue-grey cloth pictorially decorated in gilt. First English Edition, published five days after the American. "The Bottle Imp" is one of Stevenson's weirdest tales -- a supernatural blend of Aladdin's lamp, the monkey's paw, and a game of hot potato. As with most (if not all) copies, the book's price on the preliminary ad leaf was raised by hand. Some copies have ads dated as early as Sept 1892; however, since the book wasn't published until early April 1893, we would regard the ads in this copy (March 1893) as "primary." This is a near-fine copy (minor cracking of the rear endpaper, spine very slightly darkened). Beinecke 577; Princeton 53A, copies 2-3.

1893. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1893. Original tan cloth decorated in brown and black. First Edition, published five days before the English one. This collection consists of "The Beach at Falesa," "The Bottle Imp" and "The Isle of Voices"; the middle one is one of Stevenson's weirdest tales -- a supernatural blend of Aladdin's lamp, the monkey's paw, and a game of hot potato. Included are 26 illustrations. This is a very good-plus copy of this busily-decorated volume, with scarcely any wear but (as usual for this cloth) the spine is sunned. This American edition is not at all common: we see at least five English copies for every American one. Beinecke 575; Princeton 53. Provenance: armorial bookplate of Gilbert Burgess, who was a literary and dramatic critic for London Sketch, perhaps best-known for his interviews with Oscar Wilde.

1886. Authorized Edition. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1886. 2 pp undated ads. Original yellow wrappers printed in black. First American Edition of this mystery by the noted Scottish novelist, poet and literary critic -- perhaps now best known for the twelve "Fairy Books" for children (1889-1910) that he adapted and edited. Lang's THE MARK OF CAIN is one of the earliest novels to feature, in a big way, tattoos -- a man has his body tattooed exactly like someone else's, then kills that man and impersonates him in order to claim his inheritance. (Along the same vein, two years later H. Rider Haggard wrote MR. MEESON'S WILL, in which a critical will is tattooed upon a woman's body.) THE MARK OF CAIN also involves, in a smaller way, a "flying machine" -- and thus is science fiction for its time. This copy is bound in yellow wrappers, which was Scribner's less-expensive option (to hard-bound cloth) during the 1880s. It is in remarkably near-fine condition (very light soil, but scarcely any wear);… Read More

1887. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1887. 4 pp undated ads. Original printed yellow wrappers. First American Edition of this collection of tales, some of which (like "Thrawn Janet" and "Markham") are along the same vein as JEKYLL AND HYDE -­ Stevenson called such stories his "creepers." This copy is in yellow wrappers (others were bound in red cloth and offered at a higher price). This is a very good copy, with minor soil, wrinkling and edge-wear of the very delicate wrapper -- rather remarkable condition, actually, for so fragile a volume. In our experience the American edition (in cloth or especially in wrappers) is much scarcer than the English one, even on this side of the Atlantic. Beinecke 413; Princeton 33A, copy 2.

1895. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1895. 8 pp undated ads. Original grey cloth decorated in gilt. First American (and first illustrated) Edition. This is a suspenseful tale involving mesmeric trances and mind control. As G&G points out, Doyle's interest in this subject can be traced back to the time when he was in medical practice in Southsea. The American edition is sought largely for the four Howard Pyle illustrations, which did not appear in the London "Acme Library" first edition. This is a fine copy. Green & Gibson A17b.

1894. Westminster: A. Constable and Co., 1894. Original blue cloth decorated in gilt. First Edition, being the first volume in the publisher's short-lived "Acme Library" (also issued in wrappers). This is a suspenseful tale involving mesmeric trances and mind control; as G&G points out, Doyle's interest in the subject dated back to his days of medical practice in Southsea. The chief characters are Dr. Austin Gilroy, a physiologist; Agatha, his fiancée; and Mrs. Penelosa, a medium with enormous mesmeric power. Gilroy, at first a skeptic, is working with Mrs. Penelosa on psychic research. He soon observes that she has fallen in love with him, although he feels no attraction to her. He also learns that not only can she mesmerize; she can also project her personality, possess others, and drive them to do what she wants. When Gilroy rejects her, she assaults him psychically and sets out to destroy him. He finds himself engaged in foolish and criminal acts, and loses his job... [Bleiler] This short tale… Read More