"THE TIME OF CRUEL MIRACLES WAS NOT PAST": FIRST ENGLISH-LANGUAGE EDITION OF A SCIENCE-FICTION LANDMARK

LEM, Stanislaw. Solaris. New York: Walker and Company, (1970). Octavo, original white cloth, original dust jacket. $3500.

First English-language and first U.S. edition of a philosophical classic of science fiction from "one of the most significant sf writers of our century."

Set on a space station orbiting a mysterious planet, Lem's story of alien contact focuses on human identity and the limits of human understanding. The author's position "at the crossroads of major European cultures and ethics, joined to an intense internalization of problems from cybernetics and information theory, his fusion of dilemmas from ultramodern science and the oldest cosmogonic heresies, his dazzling formal virtuosity—all mark him as one of the most significant sf writers of our century, and a distinctive voice in world literature" (Clute & Nicholls, 711). First published in Polish in 1961; translated into English by Joanna Kilmartin and Steve Cox, with an afterword by Darko Suvin. Basis for several adaptations including the 1972 film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky and the 2002 Steven Soderbergh film starring George Clooney. Anatomy of Wonder II-661. Inked owner name dated 1971.

White cloth showing minor soiling; spine of price-clipped dust jacket slightly toned. A very good copy.