The Martian. A Novel. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1897.
First American Edition, number 238 of 500 copies.
Octavo. iv, [ii], 409, [1] pp., with frontispiece portrait of the author and 48 plates of illustrations done by the author. Full vellum decorated in blue and gilt, top edges gilt; spine faintly soiled, fore-edges slightly tanned, otherwise a beautiful uncut, and partially unopened copy.
First serialized in Harper’s Monthly Magazine in 1896, the novel recounts the story of a young woman whose body is inhabited by a Martian. Portions of the novel are loosely autobiographical, and are especially interesting for their descriptions of 19th century Paris and the bohemian lifestyle.
Du Maurier (1834-96) was an illustrator, cartoonist and novelist who is perhaps best known for his novels Trilby; Peter Ibbetson, and the present work. Father to the actor Gerald du Maurier and grandfather of the writer Daphne du Maurier, he was also on the staff of the satirical magazine Punch, for which he drew two cartoons a week, the most famous being True Humility.
Bleiler, 65
ID:
3666
$
300