LOWELL, Percival The Mars Trilogy; Mars, Mars and its Canals; Mars as the Abode of Life [with] signed postcard

Large 8vos., 3 vols; red, green and maroon cloth, respectively, each volume lettered in gilt to upper covers and spine; Vol I adding a motif of the martian surface; Vol III adding gilt borders; all upper edges gilt; pp. [ix], vi-viii, [i], 2-228, [iv]; [vii], viii-xv, [iii], 3-393, [iii, ads]; [viii], vii-xix, [iii], 288, [viii, ads]; with numerous black and white plates, photographs, maps and diagrams throughout along with two in colour, the frontis in each case behind mounted tissue (lacking in Vol III); very good copies, with some rubbing and soiling to boards, particularly along the backstrip of Vol I; previous owner’s stamp [James Stevenson] to the front paste-down of the same, along with an early bookseller’s sticker; all volumes with light rubbing and nicking to the cloth at spine tips; light spotting mostly affecting the prelims of Vols I and II, a little soiling to the tissue of Vol II, else clean internally. 

First U.S. editions all. A complete set of Lowell’s works on the subject of Mars, here with the addition of a handwritten postcard, the recto of which shows a portion of a grecian fresco. To the verso, Lowell has written to an unidentified recipient, M. A[?], in the still picture of your setting out - was your sternly sentimental journey (journeé you know, a summer’s day) like the reminiscence within - R. L.”

Lowell was born in 1855, and graduated from Harvard in 1876 with distinction in mathematics. With a strong interest in astronomy, his graduation speech concerned the nebular hypothesis (the most widely accepted theory concerning the origins of the universe), still considered to be quite groundbreaking at the time. After travelling extensively in Asia as a diplomat and writing a series of travel books, Lowell returned to America in 1893, determined to study the planet Mars. In particular, his interest stemmed from the writings of the astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli, who first postulated that there may be canals on the Martian surface. Using his wealth and influence, Lowell founded an observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, and began to observe the heavens. For the following 15 years he made intricate drawings of the lines appearing on the surface of the planet, many of which are reproduced in his first work on the subject, Mars, which appeared in 1985 to great commercial success. 

Mars and Its Canals followed in 1906, and contained a printed dedication to Schiaparelli ‘the Columbus of a new planetary world’. This second work continued Lowell’s hypothesis concerning the existence of these canal-like structures, and through his theories he undoubtedly contributed to the advancement of astronomy, the discovery of the planet Pluto (in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh), and to popular literature (it is said that H. G. Wells’ ‘War of the Worlds’ was directly inspired by his findings, with the author making the quite natural conclusion that aliens from a dying planet may well wish to invade another). Some of the most interesting hypotheses in this second work are found in the chapters on Vegetation (in which he postulates that the observable blue-green areas of the planet are not oceans, but vast forests), and ‘Life’ (concluding that the presence of water and other forms of life necessitate further intelligent beings). 

The final book, Mars as the Abode of Life was published just two years later, and developed out of a series of lectures given by Lowell at the Lowell institute. So popular were these talks that the audience spilled out of the lecture theatres, and they had to be repeated again in the afternoons, with just as many in attendance. First published in Century Magazine, they then appeared in book form in 1908. The subjects take as their focus planetary evolution; how Mars came to be and how it differs from Earth. 

Of all of his theories, Lowell is perhaps best remembered today for popularising the belief that the martian canals were built by extra-terrestrial life in order to tap into melting polar ice caps. It wasn’t until 1960 that it was proven, by NASA, that the ‘canals’ were in fact an optical illusion. 

Rare as a set, even more so with the handwritten notecard. 

SKU: 1800237