About this Item
First Edition (SD) in original cloth. This book has some pretty impressive provenance. It has the armorial bookplate of Sir Philip Crampton Smyly on the front inside cover. Smyly was, in his time, one of the most eminent surgeons in Dublin. At various times he was the President of the Royal College of Surgeons, the President of the Laryngological Association of Great Britain, the President of the Irish Medical Association, and the President of the Irish Medical Schools and Graduates' Association. And he played a mean violin, actually his talent was described as 'competent'. He was also Surgeon-in-Ordinary to Queen Victoria in Ireland until her death, and honorary surgeon to King Edward. He died in Merrion Square, Dublin in 1904. On the title page is a little stamp of his name and that address. One page forward, on the second front end paper there is a penciled inscription: 'For T. O'Conor Sloane from Roland Blenner-Hassett (a professor wrote me and identified him, he was a scholar in the field of Irish studies). 'Thomas O'Conor Sloane was an American scientist, inventor, author, editor, educator, and linguist, perhaps best known for writing The Standard Electrical Dictionary and as the editor of Scientific American, from 1886 to 1896 and the first science fiction magazine, Amazing Stories, from 1929 to 1938. He was involved with Amazing Stories from the very beginning, serving as Hugo Gernsback's managing editor and then editor. Gernsback and Sloane believed that science fiction should promote science and technology and that the stories published in Amazing Stories should be as scientifically plausible as possible, with Sloane in particular emphasizing this. It is thought that Sloane collaborated with Gernsback in originating the term 'scientifiction' which was superseded by 'science fiction' to describe this genre, as suggested in part by the first issue of Amazing Stories. Sloane's best known invention, introduced in 1878, was the Self-Recording Photometer for Gas Power (also called the thermophoto) --the first instrument to mechanically register the illuminating power of natural gas. The year before, in 1877, Sloane had described a new process for determining sulphur in natural gas.' James Clarence Mangan's early poetry was often apolitical, but after the famine he began writing patriotic poems. During his life, and immediately after, his legacy was co-opted by Irish Nationalism, primarily thanks to John Mitchel's biography, which stressed that Mangan was 'a rebel with his whole heart and soul against the whole British spirit', building his reputation as Ireland's first national poet. WB Yeats considered Mangan one of the best Irish poets, writing 'To the soul of Clarence Mangan was tied the burning ribbon of Genius.' James Joyce used his name in Araby in Dubliners and other of his works.' And everyone who handled the book handled it respectfully. You can see the textured covers in the photos. There is a blind stamped illustration of a harp on both the front and rear cover. I don't see any conspicuous soiling. The gilt lettering on the spine is still reasonably bright. There is light rubbing and loss at the spine ends. The cover edges look very good, just a few tiny dents. The corners have only small spots of rubbing. The book is quite solidly bound. Scrolling through the pages, I'm not seeing any binding issues at all, no cracks or spaces at any of the junctures. The covers are nicely tight. The pages are also quite clean. I saw only a very few small spots. The signed end paper has spotting/foxing. I saw only a few small, minor creases, creasing is not an issue. The aforementioned little stamp of 'Philip C. Smyly' is the only marking. His bookplate is the only attachment. And the inscription to T. O'Conor Sloane is the only writing to be found anywhere in the book. This very rare first edition not only has fascinating provenance, it has fascinating Irish provenance. It also has four pages of advertisements at its end. Seller Inventory # 004911
Contact seller
Report this item
