T. Fisher Unwin,, London:, 1887. Original black cloth, front panel stamped in red, spine stamped in gold and red, rear panel stamped in red. First edition.
[1-4] [1] 2-287 [288: blank], + 32-page publisher's catalogue dated "1886-7" inserted at rear. The binding is the preferred state with the publisher's monogram in red on the rear cover. The book is found with and without publisher's catalogues inserted at rear; this copy has the earliest form of the catalogue, dated 1886-7 on page [1]. The author's anonymously published second book and first novel. A Utopian novel of a matriarchal pastoral society. "A pioneering and affectively powerful work of ecological mysticism..." Barron (ed.): Fantasy Literature 2-87. Hudson's "fine quasi-utopian novel of the far future... depicts small, self- sufficient, matriarchally organized households living in harmony with Nature. The protagonist, tragically, cannot adapt to their pastoral way of life...Both stories [A CRYSTAL AGE and GREEN MANSIONS (1904)] are remarkable anticipations of modern ecological mysticism." - Clute and Nicholls (eds), The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, p. 593. Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 1-51, Negley: Utopian Literature: A Bibliography #596, Sargent: British and American Utopian Literature pp. 38. A very good copy, front hinge starting, rear hinge cracked, armorial bookplate to front paste-down. Corners gently bumped, some mild rubbing and wear. An attractive copy now housed in a custom tray case.

[Item #11102]