The Lost Novel: Paris In The Twentieth Century
New York: Random House, 1996. First American edition. Hardcover. Fine, fresh, unread as-new copy in equally fine dust jacket. Correct first edition with "First Edition" stated and number line with "2" as , counterintuitively, is correct for this publisher at that time (second printings dropped the "First Edition" statement). Hardcover. xxvii+ 222 pp. with illustrations by Anders Wenngren. Translated from the original French and with an introduction by Eugen Weber. A remarkable literary discovery, lost for over 125 years, a fascinating novel set in the Parisof the 1960s but written by Verne a century earlier. Verne wrote the manuscript, which his great-grandson discovered, in 1863 but it was never published. Apparently the author's publisher rejected it because he felt it presented an unrealistic view of life in the future. In fact, however, it is astounding how accurately Verne managed to predict our late 20th-early 21st century world. The novel depicts a society that has been taken over by business and technology, a place where streets are filled with noisy automobiles and lit by electric lights; there is an elaborate subway system and stores stay open all night, People communicate via fax machines and rely on computers and calculators, while they are subjected to cacophonous concerts played by electrified musical instruments, Executions are carries out by electric chair. None of these inventions so clearly depicted in Verne's novel had been invented when he wrote it. A remarkably uncommon book particularly in fine, collectible condition. Fine / fine. Item #E37031
ISBN: 0679444343
Price: $69.95