A KING OF MARS

London: John Long, 1908. Octavo, pp. [1-5] 6 [7-8] 9-317 [318] [319-320: ads], original cloth, front and spine panels stamped in gold, bottom edge untrimmed. First edition. Issued with and without a 24-page publisher's catalogue dated March 1908 inserted at rear; this copy does not have the catalogue. This is apparently the earliest binding with author and title in gold within a gold rule box on the front cover. "A romance set on the planet Mars, with a civilization a little advanced over Earth's with, for example, airships, the 'white fire' (a destructive hand-weapon) and the recently developed facility for sending a small metal globe to Earth, which contains a story for our edification... reasonably scarce book..." - Locke A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 110. Locke, Voyages in Space 104. Bleiler (1978), p. 78. Reginald 07080. A bit of light soiling to rear cover, else a bright, tight, very good copy. A nice copy of an uncommon book. (#89863) (Inventory #: 89863)