Books

First Edition, First Printing. Paperback Original. Galaxy Science Fiction Novel No. 3. Signed presentation copy from Arthur C. Clarke inscribed: �To Fred Durant, with all good wishes, Arthur Clarke, 2nd Congress on Astronautics, London Sept �51.� Laid in is a PHOTOCOPY LETTER sent to Durant by Clarke of a 1987 typed letter from Arthur C. Clarke written to Dr. Jesco Von Puttkamer, Senior Scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. �.Just seen your press release, saying that SF never foretold TV for the first Moon landing. I don�t know how this myth started - and in fact, often repeated it myself. And then I was reminded that in Prelude to Space (1951), I�ve written: �Before they leave the ship, they�ll broadcast a description of everything they see, and the television camera will be set panning, so we would have some really good pictures, it�s a full colour system by the way.Thanks to the television link, anything that is discovered can be shown immediately back on Earth.�� At the bottom of the letter, Durant has made pencil notes, indicating on what pages television is referred to in the novel. Frederick Durant III was a rocketry engineer who later became an assistant director of the Smithsonian Institution�s National Air and Space Museum The book, itself, is in fine condition. Truly rare to encounter a signed copy in the year of publication.

Prelude to Space is Arthur C. Clarke's first science fiction novel, first published in 1951. It narrates the events leading up to humanity's first mission to the moon, exploring the ambitious dreams and technological challenges of the space race that was to come. As with much of Clarke's work, it emphasizes the scientific aspects and possibilities of spacefaring, with a mixed focus on engineering issues and human perspectives.