ALERIEL; OR, A VOYAGE TO OTHER WORLDS. A TALE .. by Lach-Szyrma, W[ladislaw] S[omerville] - 1883

London: Wyman & Sons, 1883. Octavo, pp. [i-v] vi-xii [xiii] xiv-xv [xvi] [1] 2-220 [221: ads] [222-224: blank] [note: last leaf is a blank], inserted frontispiece (maps of Venus and Mars), original dark blue cloth, front and rear panels ruled in blind, spine panel stamped in gold, brown coated endpapers. First edition. Perhaps a presentation copy; unsigned inscription in Lach-Szyrma's hand to an unnamed recipient "with the Author's kind regards" on recto of half title leaf. The first of Lach-Szyrma's three works of interplanetary fiction, this being a revised and expanded version of his A VOICE FROM ANOTHER WORLD, published in London by James Parker & Co. in 1874. "The first two parts deal with communication with a Venusian who has spent some time incognito on Earth and a description of a utopian civilization on Venus obtained through a vision ... The third and fourth parts describe the adventures of some Venusians as they explore a civilized Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and some of their satellites." - Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 131. Later adventures of the Venusians are detailed in "Letters from the Planets," a series of nine stories by Lach-Szyrma published anonymously in CASSELL'S MAGAZINE from 1887 to 1893, and his novel, UNDER OTHER CONDITIONS, published in London by Adam and Charles Black in 1892. "The general point of this and the succeeding stories is acceptance, on a religious basis, of the plurality of worlds and the omnipresence of humanoid life." - Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 1261. "These rather preachy stories concentrate on sightseeing and ethics, but fair-mindedly stress that other planetary conditions may lead to other customs. Lach-Szyrma could be considered a minor forerunner to C. S. Lewis." - Clute and Nicholls (eds), The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (1993), p. [684]. "Clearly influenced Wells." - Suvin, Victorian Science Fiction in the UK, p. 24. Locke, Voyages in Space 120. Lewis, Utopian Literature, p. 108. Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, p. 69. Stableford, Scientific Romance in Britain 1890-1950, p. 41. Bleiler (1978), p. 117. Reginald 08512. Cloth a bit rubbed at corner tips and along outer joints, a few minor scuffs to front panel, else a very good, bright copy. (#75601)