Chevalier DE BETHUNE - Relation du monde de Mercure. Partie I & II 
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Chevalier DE BETHUNE - Relation du monde de Mercure. Partie I & II. Genève, Barillot & fils, 1750. Ill. With copper engravings. 12mo, [2]-xvi-264, 286 pp. Contemp. leather, gilt spine with 5 raised bands & leather title label.
* 2 parts in 1 volume. Very rare first edition of one of the very first books of science fiction, an account of an imaginary voyage on the planet Mercury. Translated, according to the author, from an Arabic manuscript that describes observations through a "microscope philosophique", a species of telescope invented by a rosicrucian. This "fiction amusante" (p. xiv) gives an account of the whole mercurian society: government, law, customs, buildings, religion, animals, science and literature,... Illustrated with frontispice and 2 engraved headpieces. Binding slightly used (joints split, corners bumped, small def. at head & tail, light cuts in leather) but still very firm. Without title page of second part, small repair on verso of title page of first part. Good copy of a rare, curious book.
500,- EUR
Differenzbesteuert/Subject to margin taxation
Sachgebiete: Raumfahrt, Fantasy, Literatur bis ca. 1900, Science fiction
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