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vi, [1]-185 pp. 1 vols. 12mo. First and only collection of five "Tales and Fancies" by lawyer and author Grenville Mellen (1799-1841), Harvard Class of 1818. He "is interesting chiefly as pioneer work leading up to the short story as later developed by Hawthorne and Poe. His tales show the influence of Irving, but are more diffuse, sentimental, and mystifying" (DAB). His wife and infant daughter died soon after publication of this book; he published no further books but was a regular contributor of verse to literary annuals. Two stories, "The Paslisadoes" and "The Spy and the Traitor", are set in the Hudson Valley during the Revolution. Locke describes two stories with science fiction content: " The Meeting of the Planet , a literary satire in which the planets and stars are given personalities and discourse among themselves" … In The Tale of an Aeronaut , a balloonist "ascends into space and drifts among the planets and comets listening in on their conversations, including the Moon plotting against Earth, before returning to Earth to find himself over the Battle of Waterloo." In "The Presidency of the Republic in 1825" is a literary satire in Slumberland, "my very ominous vision," in which Richard Reverie visits a council of the Gods and learns of their esteem for the American republic, but also their scorn for the recent presidential elections: Jupiter thunders, "Are ye the senseles fools to believe that a President is of the people s making? And do ye boast of your constitutions, and the unity, and harmony, and beauty of your Republic, when no two of you can think alike and all of ye act without a solitary reference to the gods, in the midts of your bickerings and your backbitings?" The others have their say, praising candidates, Mars prasing J***** and rumbling war, Neptune railing against "that unrighteous navigation act, which this people, I never knew why, have called the Tariff". Wright I, 1859; Locke, Voyages in Space (2011), V564 Original purple muslin backed boards, printed paper spine label. Spine a bit faded, flyleaves toned. Very good.
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