?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 8,000 - $ 12,000
GERNSBACK, HUGO. Ralph 124C 41+. A Romance of the Year 2660. Illustrated with 11 plates by Frank R. Paul. 8vo, publisher's blue cloth with gilt titles, joints darkened from binding blue as usual, top edges a little dust soiled; dust jacket, small chip to spine panel head not touching letters, few corner nicks, minor rubbing, 1 1/4-inch closed tear to top of front panel; ownership inscription penciled to front pastedown, minor spotting to first few text leaves, else quite clean. Boston: The Stratford Company, 1925
signed first edition in unrestored jacket of one of the foundational texts in the science-fiction pantheon. The inscription "Sincerely yours" above the signature apparently in second, unknown hand (as seen in other copies). Gernsback originally serialized this work in his Modern Electrics magazine, and also founded the pioneering journal Amazing Stories. The annual Hugo Awards, named in his honor, continue to highlight his contributions to the formation of science-fiction as a viable literary genre. Currey's binding state A, with "Stratford" at base of spine measuring 1.5 cm (no priority). Scarce. Last copy in jacket at auction sold in these rooms (Swann, 21 June 2012, lot 157). Currey, p. 198.
