The Wonderland of Evolution (Ex-libris George Locke)
London and New York: Field & Tuer / Leadenhalle Presse / Simpkin, Marshall & Co.; Hamilton, Adams & Co / Scribner & Welford, [1884]. First edition. Hardcover. 138pp. Original gray cloth (soiled). Spine darkened. Text block cracked at the center. With George Locke's bookplate. George Locke is the author of "The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction." From the collection of Berkeley book collector and letter press printer, John Ruyle. Listed as #665 in "American Lost-Race Fiction: The Stuart Teitler Collection," a catalog produced in 2008 by Serendipity Books of Berkeley, California.
Regarding this very copy, the Serendipity catalog states, "'Science-fantasy. The narrator takes a kind of spirit journey through time to witness the evolution of life on Earth from its origins to the technologically advanced Utopia enjoyed by man in the future. Intended, like such books as Courtney's Travels in the Interior, as a sugar-coated science lesson, and, for my money, one of the most interesting.' - Locke, who had only a badly stained copy [this copy], though the copy in hand was sold by Locke to John Ruyle. The Leadenhall Press is widely collected. Races of talking fairies and animals are encountered." Good. Item #58759
Price: $300.00