LOCKE, Richard Adams; John F. W. Herschel. ([The Moon Hoax] Great astronomical discoveries lately made by Sir John Herschel. (FIRST PUBLICATION IN BOOK FORM - 1835)

AUTHOR: LOCKE, Richard Adams;  John F. W. Herschel.

TITLE: [The Moon Hoax] Great astronomical discoveries lately made by Sir John Herschel, L.L.D.F.R.S. &c. at the Cape of Good Hope.

PUBLISHER: New York : New York Sun, 1835.

DESCRIPTION: FIRST PUBLICATION IN BOOK FORM. 1 vol., 28pp., original brown wrappers present but detached, in it's original stitching, lower edge of first two leaves clipped(?), otherwise internally clean and bright, VERY GOOD, housed in a 1/4 blue morocco clamshell slipcase, raised bands, gilt lettered and decorated spine.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: "This fabulous account of flora and fauna on the surface of the moon originally appeared as a 'news story' in the New York Sun in August and September in 1835 under the title 'Discoveries in the Moon lately made at the Cape of Good Hope by Sir John Herschel.' Purportedly based on a news release by the Royal Society, the story achieved short-lived credibility by describing the construction and working of a powerful telescope"--Lilly Library, Science Fiction and Fantasy, page 12.

According to William Gowans who reprinted the story in 1859, the owners of the SUN published 60,000 copies of it in pamphlet form. Nevertheless, the 1835 printings are rare and only a handful of copies survive.

Only 1 other copy has appeared at auction in the last 78 years and listed as "somewhat soiled and foxed, with scattered stains".

OCLC/WorldCat locate 14 copies in institutions all in the U.S. No copy located outside the U.S.