The Comical History of the States and Empires of the Worlds of the Moon and Sun. by Cyrano de Bergerac - 1687

Translated by Archibald Lovell. Engraved frontispiece. 8vo. Original late 17th century English calf. London, for Henry Rhodes, 1687. First Edition in English of one of the earliest works of science fiction, and a key work of utopian literature.

Cyrano's fantastic voyages to the moon and the sun offer a picture of the universe drawn from the still-young ideas of Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Cyrano's own teacher Gassendi, and at the same time invented Utopian societies as vehicles for satire.


Cyrano's ingenious mixture of science and romance has furnished a model for many subsequent writers, among them Jonathan Swift and Edgar Allan Poe. "The first writer to describe an interplanetary journey by means of rockets. He is a very sharp satirist and his tale abounds with amusing attacks on religion, contemporary scientific theory, philosophy, customs and mores. Throughout the development many small points are based on Cyrano's interpretation or extrapolation of the day. The book is thus science-fiction of its period. A remarkable book that deserves wider readership than it has received." (Bleiler. Science-Fiction: The Early Years, 542.)

Front hinge cracked but holding; lacking "To the Reader" leaf in the first part, and the errata leaf at the end of the second part. Title and frontispiece are somewhat toned, not affecting the integrity of the paper; occasional mild foxing; o/w a very nice copy with ample margins. Very Scarce in a 17th century binding.