Looking Forward or The Diothas

Thiusen, Ismar [pseudonym of John Macnie (1836-1909)]

Published by G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1890

About this Item

Pencil marginalia on front endpaper. ; Scarce. 1890 edition of a title first published in 1883. viii, 358 pages. Early maroon cloth boards with gilt lettering and rule on spine. Page dimensions: 164 x 121mm. Page edges sprinkled red. A novel. Utopian fiction. This edition with a 3 page "Preface to the Second Edition" by the author, dated October 8, 1889. "His Utopia, 'The Diothas, or A Far Look Ahead' (1883; variant title 'A Far Look Ahead, or The Diothas' 1890; variant title 'Looking Forward, or The Diothas' 1890), set several millennia hence (almost but not quite in the Far Future), is prolific with suggestions of progress. The narrative describes Television, Computers, sophisticated urban planning that has transformed the New York of the future into a vertical garden, and a car-dominated Transportation system, while presenting a not untypically regimented picture of human relations, as usual more restrictive for women, who, if unmarried, go out only with chaperons. At the same time, all medical doctors are women, and almost all artists; and there are strict controls on the garnering of undue wealth, which may have seem unduly socialistic to Thiusen's contemporary readers." - John Clute, in SFE (The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction), 4th edition, online, accessed January 2024. Running title at head of verso of leaves is "The Diothas ; Or, A Far Look Ahead". [References: Bleiler (1978) "Checklist" p. 192; Bleiler (1990) "Science-Fiction : The Early Years" p. 734-5 - "An ideal society stressing contols, but embodying a certain amount of social protest. The twenty-sixth century, mostly Niorc (New York)."; Clute & Langford, SFE (4th edition, online), entry on Ismar Thiusen; Negley (1977) "Utopian Literature" 732].

Seller Inventory # 25592

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Looking Forward or The Diothas
• Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York
• Publication Date: 1890
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Dust Jacket
• Seller catalogs:
  • English Literature