The Martian Chronicles, Signed by Ray Bradbury, Limited Edition, # 1195/2000, 1974

Bradbury, Ray. The Martian Chronicles. Avon: The Limited Editions Club, 1974. Signed by Ray Bradbury and Joseph Mugnaini. Limited Edition #1,195/2,000. Quarto, original silk-screened black buckram boards and matching slipcase. Black speckled fore-edge, silver titles to spine. Illustrated throughout with full color lithographs and black and white illustrations. 

Presented is a signed and numbered limited edition printing of Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles. This limited edition was published in 1974, twenty four years after the original publish date, in an edition of 2000. Each book in the edition was signed by the author Ray Bradbury and Joseph Mugnaini, the illustrator. This printing is sumptuously illustrated with eleven color lithographs by Mugnaini and additional black and white illustrations at the chapter headings and within the text.  

The Martian Chronicles is a 1950 collection of science fiction short stories by Ray Bradbury and his first published book. The stories chronicle the repeated attempts of humans to colonize Mars. Forced to flee a devastated Earth, the conflict between the new colonists and the aboriginal Martians is told through interwoven stories of colonization and exploration. The book lies somewhere between a short story collection and an episodic novel, containing several stories Bradbury first published in science fiction magazines throughout the 1940s.

The Martian Chronicles established Bradbury’s reputation and was lauded as a popular and critical success. For the introduction to this Limited Editions Club edition, Martin Gardner wrote: "Critics have said it is Bradbury's best book because there is more science in it than in his other books. I believe the opposite to be true. That is not a weakness. That is why, long after Mars has become a hearth to us, The Martian Chronicles will keep on stirring imaginations, arousing laughter and tears, and haunting the minds of those who have not forgotten how to read."

CONDITION:

Quarto printing, in original full silk-screened black buckram binding with matching endpapers and slipcase in matching design. Silver titles to spine. Black speckled fore edge. Very good condition, with little to no wear.  Limited edition #1,1956 of 2,000. Signed by Bradbury and Mugnaini on the limitation page. Bradbury signed in red felt-tipped ink, Mugnaini signed in royal blue felt-tipped ink. Book is illustrated with 11 full color lithographs by Mugnaini, plus additional black and white illustrations.

Book Dimensions: 10 13/16"H x 7 3/4"W x 1 1/2"D. Slipcase Dimensions: 11 1/8"H x 8"W x 1 3/4"D.