1910 First Edition - Through Space to Mars: Or The Longest Journey on Record

Author: Roy Rockwood.
Title: Through Space to Mars: Or The Longest Journey on Record.
Publisher: New York, Cupples & Leon Company, 1910. First Edition.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 7.5 x 5 inches.
Pages: 248 pages, followed by a publisher’s catalogue.
Binding: Attractive and very good original publisher’s light grey pictorial cloth, lettered in blue and black on the upper board and spine, depicting a rocket-like projectile soaring among clouds with a small planet vignette. Rear board plain (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover. The binding remains sound and well preserved.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight and clean, rare light foxing or staining - as shown). Publisher’s catalogue present at the rear.
Illustrations: Complete with the three full-page black-and-white illustrations, all present and in good condition.

Estimate: (USD 200–250).

The book: Through Space to Mars is the fourth volume in Roy Rockwood’s popular “Great Marvel Series,” and here offered in its first edition. A pioneering example of early American juvenile science fiction, the novel follows inventive boys and a visionary scientist who construct a cigar-shaped projectile capable of traversing the ether and journeying to Mars, encountering strange phenomena and speculative Martian life along the way. Blending adventure, imaginative pseudo-science, and Verne-inspired exploration, the story reflects the early twentieth century’s fascination with technological progress and interplanetary travel. The striking pictorial binding, with its stylized rocket and celestial motif, remains one of the most appealing design elements of the Cupples & Leon science-fiction juveniles.

The author: “Roy Rockwood” was a house pseudonym used by the Stratemeyer Syndicate, the prolific creators of numerous classic juvenile adventure series. Under this name appeared a sequence of imaginative scientific romances that introduced young readers to speculative technology, polar exploration, undersea travel, and ultimately space voyage—anticipating many themes later central to modern science fiction.