[Rarebooks] David Lindsay. A VOYAGE TO ARCTURUS. Methuen, 1920.

[Michael John Thompson]

Offering:

LINDSAY, David. A VOYAGE TO ARCTURUS.  London: Methuen & Co., Ltd. [1920].

First edition. Octavo, original red cloth titled and ruled in gilt on 
spine, titled ad ruled in blind on front panel. 308 pp, plus 8 page 
publisher's catalogue bound in at rear, dated 1124 (November, 1924). First 
edition, first binding, second issue with the catalogue from 1924 rather 
than the undated 8-page catalogue which is in the first issue. This 
catalogue lists 18 titles by Edgar Rice Burroughs, including THE GIRL FROM 
HOLLYWOOD which Methuen first issued in 1924. The earlier catalogue lists 
10 books by Burroughs up to 1920. There are also later bindings titled in 
black on the spine (See Locke, Spectrum of Fantasy Vol 1, 1980), and in 
blind (See Currey). 1250 copies printed, of which this is one of 500 or 600 
in the first binding.

The author's masterpiece, long considered a classic. A well-above average 
copy in very good condition. The front free endpaper has been neatly 
excised, and there is a previous owner's name in pencil on the first blank 
leaf. Half-title leaf present. All leaves present except the front free 
endpaper. A few tiny marginal stains to the text. Very little or no foxing. 
Very slight dust-soiling to cloth, the spine panel is very lightly tanned 
and slightly dust-soiled but is very bright, the gilt crisp and legible. 
Trace of rubbing / wear at spine tips and one small 1/4 inch closed tear to 
cloth at bottom edge of rear hinge. Overall, a very nice copy.

$2500.00 US. Terms: As Usual.


"A classic allegorical romance in which the landscapes and inhabitants of 
the planet Tormance provide an externalization of the moral and 
metaphysical questions that preoccupied the author. Its incarnate 
theological system influenced Lewis's OUT OF THE SILENT PLANET (1938), and 
it also bears some similarity to George Macdonald's LILITH (1895 ), 
although it is very much a work sui generis." - Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 2-72.

A Voyage to Arcturus has been described as the major "underground" novel of 
the 20th century. The secret of Lindsay's apparent strangeness as a 
novelist lies in his metaphysical assumptions. Like the gnostics he seems 
to have viewed the "real" world as an illusion, wh ich must be rejected in 
order to perceive genuine "truth". Lindsay's austere vision of "true 
reality" seems to have been influenced by Scandinavian mythology. After 
being out of print for many decades, Lindsay's work has become increasingly 
available, and he is now seen as being perhaps the major Scottish fantasist 
of the 20th century, the missing link between George Macdonald, and more 
modern writers such as Alasdair Gray who have also used surrealism and 
magic realism in their work.
"The book is not allegory but vision. Lindsay's imagery, often drawn from 
music, is burning and impressive. He uses words violently and cares nothing 
for grace.... But what emerges after sympathetic reading is... a sense of 
the remarkable profundity and coh erence of the vision. The message is 
uncompromising in its purity, The achievement of the book exactly balances 
the ambition of its intention. This, surely, is rare." - London Times.

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Michael John Thompson
Thompson Rare Books
Dunlop Point 1-3
Hornby Island, BC
Canada V0R 1Z0
250-335-1182

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